By NATION REPORTER
THE agriculture sector has completely been messed up and farmers should prepare for real difficult times because there shall never be a time when they will ever receive adequate fertilizer and on time, Munir Zulu has said.
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Mr Zulu said it is astoundingly shocking that the Ministry of Agriculture had yet again awarded a contract companies such as Agrizam Investment Limited to supply and deliver fertilizer in Eastern Province when the company had lamentably failed to meet its contractual obligations in the last farming season.
Mr Zulu has demanded the immediate resignation of Mtolo Phiri, the Minister of Agriculture for having messed up the agriculture sector which he said would take more than six years to repair.
He is also demanding for an explanation from government why it had decided to award a contract to supply and deliver fertilizer in Eastern Province to a company which failed to deliver the commodity in the last farming season.
He said Agrizam Investment Limited performed extremely badly in the last farming season that the Ministry of Agriculture was compelled to give the company an ultimatum to deliver after sternly warning the company.
“The mess that has been done to the agriculture sector in the two years of Mr Mtolo Phiri as Minister of Agriculture will take no less than six year to repair. What is astoundingly shocking is that the Ministry of Agriculture decided to award a contract to supply and deliver fertilizer to Eastern Province to a company called Agrizam which failed to meet its contractual obligations in the last farming season. And the company has yet again failed and farmers are now being forced to camp in their respective districts waiting for the commodity. I do not know why Mtolo Phiri is not resigning…but anyway, we have leaders without morals,” Mr Zulu said.
Mr Zulu explained that the UPND government had been warned against cutting the supply chain in the supply, delivery and distribution of fertilizer by abandoning traditional and experienced suppliers who had available stock ready for distribution.
He said the Ministry of Agriculture was advised that it could not start the procurement of fertilizer in August but had ignored the advice resulting into farmer not receiving the inputs on time.
“”You cannot have mealie meal at K300 and have a shortage of urea fertilizer at the same time. Next, we are going to have poor yields and a shortage of maize. That is promoting hunger in the country. And we now have a government that is telling farmers to get loans and buy fertilizer when they have not delivered the commodity for people to buy. You want farmers to get loans but you have not distributed fertilizer. Anyway, the UPND has no respect for the rule of law, how can they respect a farmer?” Mr Zulu wondered.
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