Zim Online
Thu 22 December 2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has ordered a
white farmer to close down his
agro-export business because the police want
to use the farmland to build
low cost houses for its officers, ZimOnline has
learnt.
The
move to shut down Gletwin farm, which trades as Ross and Sons and
is located
near Harare's posh northern suburb of Glen Lorne, comes barely a
fortnight
after Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono wrote to
President
Robert Mugabe pleading with him to stop fresh farm seizures.
In his
letter to Mugabe, a copy of which was shown to ZimOnline, Gono
said that
Zimbabwe, which is already grappling severe food shortages, could
next year
face an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe unless the few
remaining
white farmers in the country and newly resettled black farmers
were allowed
to grow food this farming season.
But State
Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who is in charge of land
redistribution,
yesterday vehemently defended the seizure of Gletwin farm
and called
ZimOnline reporters "insane" for questioning the government's
decision to
take the farm in order to build houses for police officers on
the
land.
"You would have to be insane to be worried that we are taking
over a
farm from a white man to build accommodation for our law enforcers,"
Mutasa
said.
Gletwin farm, owned by Ian Ross, employs hundreds
of permanent and
seasonal workers who will now have to join more than 300
000 other former
farm workers now jobless after their former white employers
were chased from
the land by the government under its controversial land
reform programme.
This, in a country where more than 70 percent of potential
labour is
unemployed.
The farm grows mainly potatoes for the
local and export markets and in
the process generating hard currency in
critical short supply in Zimbabwe.
Ross said he had already been
told by Chihuri to vacate the farm but
said he was still waiting for a
written order before deciding on his next
course of action.
"There has been nothing in writing yet. It has been verbal but I will
have
to get something in writing," said Ross, who would not be drawn to
divulge
further details on the matter.
But the white farmer has little
options after the government
controversially changed Zimbabwe's constitution
last August to bar white
farmers from challenging in court the seizure of
the farms by the state,
while courts were also prohibited from entertaining
such applications from
farmers.
Powerful officials of Mugabe's
ruling ZANU PF party and government as
well as top army and police officers
have since the amendment of the
constitution launched a fresh wave of farm
seizures across the country.
Many in Zimbabwe's ruling elite
already own more than three or four
farms seized from whites in flagrant
violation of the government's publicly
stated policy of
one-man-one-farm.
In his letter Gono clearly urged Mugabe to
personally intervene and
stop his ministers, service chiefs and senior
officials of ZANU PF from
seizing farms, saying continued disruptions on
farms could see the
agricultural sector, the fulcrum of the economy,
collapsing beyond
redemption.
ZimOnline has as yet been unable
to establish how Mugabe reacted to
the letter by Gono, a close lieutenant he
has tasked to lead efforts to
revive Zimbabwe's crumbling
economy.
But farm invasions have continued unabated since Gono's
letter.
Zimbabwe has faced chronic food shortages since 2000 when
Mugabe began
grabbing productive farmland from whites to resettle landless
blacks.
The United Nations says an estimated three million people
or about a
quarter of the 12 million Zimbabweans require food aid between
now and the
next harvest around March/April 2006 or they will starve. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 22 December
2005
HARARE - The Zimbabwe government on Wednesday warned people to
be wary
of the threat of avian flu which has ravaged Asia and some parts of
Europe.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Health said: "The
Ministry
of Health and Child Welfare in collaboration with the relevant
stakeholders
is calling on the general public and people working with birds
and poultry
to be wary and alert to the possibility of the occurrence of the
bird flu."
Although there have been no known cases of bird flu in
Zimbabwe,
players in the business sector said the alert will likely dampen
the high
demand for poultry products during the festive season.
Fanuel Moyo, a senior member of the Zimbabwe Poultry Producers
Association
said: "We are keeping our fingers crossed that this government
alert won't
affect our sales at this important period. We have not recorded
a single
incident (of bird flu) but we are following the advice of the
government to
be wary of the disease."
Bird flu has been reported in parts of
Asia, Indonesia, China and
Thailand as well as in some European countries
forcing the countries to
destroy millions of chickens in a bid to stop the
spread of the disease
which can be fatal if it infects people. -
ZimOnline
IOL
December
21 2005 at 12:34PM
Harare - A Zimbabwean cabinet minister has
condemned as "sub-standard"
a model of a home built by the United Nations
(UN) for victims of a
government clean-up blitz that left hundreds of
thousands homeless.
The government-run Herald Wednesday quoted
Local Government Minister
Ignatius Chombo as saying that the UN was told to
"follow set guidelines but
they went ahead and built this sub-standard
building."
"This structure is not permanent. We want permanent
houses for our
people," said Chombo during a visit to a camp where the UN
has built an
example of the brick and asbestos house.
Chombo's
remarks came two weeks after UN relief aid coordinator Jan
Egeland met
President Robert Mugabe where the long-time Zimbabwean leader
snubbed a UN
offer of tents for victims of Operation Murambatsvina (Drive
out
filth).
The demolision campaign, which the
government said aimed at ridding
the country from crime and grime left some
700 000 people homeless earlier
this year, according to UN
figures.
Chombo said that the money spent on asbestos walling could
have been
used to buy bricks, the paper said.
"Comrade Chombo
described the house... as below human dignity, saying
the people who
designed the structure were guided by a
'this-is-good-for-Africa' attitude,"
The Herald said.
Mugabe has said through his spokesperson that
"tents just don't augur
well with our culture" adding that "if the UN does
not have enough money for
permanent shelter let the little they have be used
to augment what the
government already has."
Egeland toured
areas razed during a government "urban renewal"
campaign in May and
expressed dismay at the poor living conditions in the
demolished areas,
offering UN help.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of severe political and
economic crisis,
with some 80 percent of the population living under the
poverty threshold.
More than 70 percent are jobless and inflation is running
at over 400
percent. - Sapa-AFP
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 21
Dec 2005 (IRIN) - UN Resident Coordinator Agostinho
Zacarias has expressed
surprise at the Zimbabwean government's criticism of
a model house built by
the UN for those left homeless by the controversial
Operation
Murambatsvina.
The official Herald newspaper quoted Local Government
Minister Ignatius
Chombo as saying that the UN was told to "follow set
guidelines but they
went ahead and built this sub-standard
building".
Zacarias told a press conference in the capital, Harare, on
Wednesday that
he was "somewhat puzzled" by the minister's response. He went
on to describe
the model as a joint effort by the Zimbabwean government and
the UN, as "it
was designed jointly by UN technicians, together with
technicians appointed
by the ministry of local government, and is the result
of extended
negotiations between the UN and the government of
Zimbabwe".
The Zimbabwean government's controversial clean-up campaign,
Operation
Murambatsvina left more than 700,000 people homeless or without a
livelihood
when it started in mid-May.
The Herald added that Chombo,
after viewing the model home on Tuesday,
commented that the people who had
designed the structure were guided by "a
this-is-good-for-Africa
attitude".
Zacarias underlined that the model "very closely" reflected
the technical
specifications contained in a letter from the Zimbabwean
government over a
month ago. "What is new is the request attributed to the
government in
yesterday's coverage [in the Herald] that the temporary
housing should
contain two rooms - something not contained in the
aforementioned
specifications provided to us".
The Zimbabwean
government initially rejected the UN offer to build temporary
shelters,
saying there was "no humanitarian crisis", only to make an
about-turn last
month. In its acceptance letter the government insisted on
drawing up the
list of beneficiaries, and laid down specifications for the
construction of
permanent brick and concrete one-room shelters.
Reiterating that the UN
had never committed itself to constructing permanent
housing for those left
homeless after the clean-up operation, Zacarias said
the model had been
built, notwithstanding various constraints, such as time,
cost and the need
to provide shelter to as many as possible before the onset
of the rainy
season.
The UN's spokesman in Harare, Hiro Ueki, told IRIN that the
temporary
shelter had been designed in such a way that people could remove
some of the
building material to construct permanent shelters.
He
added that the UN hoped to provide shelter to 2,500 families within a
period
of three months during phase 1 of the shelter programme. Subject to
funding,
the UN intends building 20,000 units at a total cost of US $18
million.
On Monday the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland
told the UN
Security Council in New York that the global body and the
humanitarian
community should be more proactive in engaging the Zimbabwean
government to
address the "enormous humanitarian crisis" in that
country.
Egeland met President Robert Mugabe in Harare earlier this
month, where the
Zimbabwean leader snubbed a UN offer of tents for those
affected by the
clean-up operation.
Zacarias pointed out on Wednesday
that "tents are used throughout the world
to provide temporary shelter to
those in need".
He said the UN in Zimbabwe had "agreed to move beyond the
use of tents in
order to construct what might technically be called
'temporary or
transitional homes', which beneficiaries might subsequently
use as a basic
building block for their longer-term housing".
News24
21/12/2005 19:39 -
(SA)
Harare - Sweden's outgoing ambassador to Zimbabwe, Kristina
Svensson, on
Wednesday said the government's "haphazard land reform
programme" along with
"bad laws and bad economic policy" were hastening
economic decline.
Speaking to journalists ahead of her departure from
Harare, the Swedish
envoy said "it's not only the drought that led to the
decline but also land
reform".
"We think land reform was necessary
but the way it was implemented was not
within the confines of the rule of
law," Svensson said, since the
"consequences of the haphazard land reform
have led to the decline in
agricultural production".
Svensson, who
finishes a four-year stint in the Southern African country at
the end of the
month, also blamed "bad laws and bad economic policy" for
Zimbabwe's
decline.
Foreign investors scared away
"Laws like the Public Order
and Security Act (Posa), the media laws and the
NGO (non-governmental
organisations) bill scare away foreign investors," she
said.
Zimbabwe's economy has taken a steep dive since the late 1990s,
shrinking by
30% over the past six years, with inflation now shooting up to
over 500%.
Over four million of Zimbabwe's 11.6 million inhabitants face
food
shortages, according to United Nations agencies.
"The rules are
changing every day and people ask themselves whether it's
wise to invest in
the country when they don't know what will happen to their
business
tomorrow," said Svensson.
Painting a sad picture
She added: "When
I was ambassador in (neighbouring) Zambia, we used to come
here and there
were lots of things to admire about Zimbabwe."
"We noticed big grain
silos, herds of healthy, fat cattle, green pastures
and well-developed
infrastructure.
"Now one sees abandoned tobacco barns, uncultivated
fields, cattle looking
thin and the general decline. It's very
sad."
A drastic change of policy however could restore Zimbabwe to its
former
status as Southern Africa's bread basket, she said.
Government
blames the economic drop on drought and targeted sanctions
imposed by the
European Union and the United States government on Mugabe,
members of his
inner circle and their families following disputed
presidential polls in
2002.
Economic analysts however also blamed land reforms in which
government
seized farms from white commercial farmers and gave them to
landless blacks.
Critics say the majority of beneficiaries lack farming
experience and rely
on government handouts.
Xinhua
www.chinaview.cn 2005-12-22
02:42:03
HARARE, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- As Zimbabwe braces for
the fight
against corruption, debate has been raging on the innumerable
challenges the
crusade will face and whether these will be
surmounted.
Corruption has become embedded within the
Zimbabwean society and
is affecting every sector of the economy as well as
the social fabric of the
nation.
From boarding a commuter
omnibus to work, to purchasing scarce
basic commodities in shops, it has
become the norm that one has to pay a
bribe.
In 1998, a
meeting of the National Economic Consultative Forum
agreed on the need to
tackle the problem, resulting in the establishment of
a Task Force on
Corruption.
Thereafter legislation to deal with corruption was
drafted while
the Ministry of Anti-Corruption was also
created.
Last year, the Parliament passed the Anti-Corruption
Act and
inSeptember this year President Robert Mugabe appointed a
six-memberAnti-Corruption Commission, comprising technocrats from different
backgrounds, to spearhead the crusade.
This signaled
government's commitment to dealing with corruption
which, together with
inflation, has caused havoc to the economy.
Concern has however
been raised at the delay in unleashing the
Commission as it has not started
operating, more than three months after it
was established.
Explaining the dormancy, Commission chairman, Eric Harrid, said
the body was
looking for suitable offices to operate from, adding they could
not start
operating from a temporary base, as they needed to secure the
information
they received from various sources.
Once they secured
accommodation, he said, the Commission would
also be able to discuss
strategies to employ in the fight against
corruption.
Zimbabweans have become accustomed to paying bribes to obtain such
documents
as birth certificates, passports and drivers' licenses while it is
common
knowledge that one has to pay a bribe to secure housing stands,
farms,
places in schools or colleges, employment and promotion.
While
there is disagreement on the extent of the problem in the
private and public
sectors, it is generally agreed that it had reached
unacceptable levels in
both sectors.
The problem has however been more visible in the
public sector
where the majority of the people seek different services that
have a bearing
on their social and economic well being.
As
State Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and Anti-Corruption Minister
Paul
Mangwana put it, corruption had been left to take root in Zimbabwean
society
and it would take concerted effort to eradicate it.
"People
have become used to paying extra to quicken the process
for decisions to be
made," he said, adding that the public had to be
mobilized to take a
position against the scourge for the war to be won.
For this
reason, he said, his ministry had taken a three-pronged
approach involving
prevention, public awareness and prosecution, to fight
corruption.
He said the ministry had been using such
interactive fora as
Agriculture Shows to raise awareness on the need to
fight corruption.
It was also using such medium as pamphlets
and media programs,
with a column on the subject appearing in the Sunday
Mail every week, he
said.
The involvement of individuals
and institutions that should be at
the forefront of the war against
corruption has further complicated the
situation in Zimbabwe, as these
cannot be expected to participate in the
crusade
whole-heartedly.
It is for that reason that some skeptics have
doubted the
integrity and ability of members of the Anti-Corruption
Commission.
Center for the Advancement of Dialogue and
Democracy interim
national chairman, Kurauone Chihwayi, said Zimbabweans had
resigned
themselves to corruption after realizing that it was cascading from
the top
to bottom.
Chihwayi said people had stopped
reporting cases of corruption
when they discovered that no action was taken
against perpetrators as they
were well connected with the highest echelons
of the political machinery. He
said the major challenge that the fight
against corruption was faced with,
was that most of those talking about
corruption were corrupt, but were doing
it to receive publicity or to raise
funds.
"Most of these people are taking Zimbabweans for a
ride," he said.
"We need to engage in the crusade in good faith
and stop
pretending."
There was also need for the
government to put in place mechanisms
to protect people that exposed
corruption as many had been victimized for
their actions, he
said.
Incentives should also be introduced for people to expose
corruption while the police should devise ways of conducting investigations
without exposing witnesses, said Chihwayi.
National
Economic Consultative Forum spokesperson, Nhanhla Masuku,
concurred that the
authorities were to blame for turning a blind eye to
corruption for a long
time.
He said much information about corruption had been
submitted to
the relevant authorities although no action had been
taken.
"What discouraged people was that no action was taken,"
he said.
He said, instead, the authorities had used the
information to
extort payment from the culprits in return for
protection.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
dismissed
allegations that corruption was rife within its ranks, saying the
situation
was not as bad as was being portrayed.
ZRP
spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka, said his
organization
did not condone corruption and was on record for taking action
against those
that had been found on the wrong side of the law.
"We have
discharged those that have been found out," he said.
He accused
society of starting the corruption cycle by offering
police officers bribes
to avoid arrest or paying fines and urged the public
to desist from the
practice and report any officers asking for bribes.
The ZRP had
established Complaints Desks in Harare and Bulawayo
for people to report
such cases and more such desks would be opened
throughout the
country.
Meanwhile, Zimbabweans wait with bated breath for the
Commission
to start cracking its whip and bring sanity to the economy and
the social
fabric.
While many wait anxiously for the
Commission to start its work,
many more are rueing the day they allowed
themselves to succumb tothe
temptation to amass wealth through illegal
means. Enditem
Xinhua
www.chinaview.cn 2005-12-22
02:06:51
HARARE, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Shortage of diesel is
stalling
efficient land tillage across Zimbabwe with most rural farmers
resorting to
draught power, an official said on Wednesday.
The Department of Agricultural Research and Extension Services
director,
Shadreck Mlambo, said tillage was expected to go beyond early next
year.
"We have not yet compiled the total hectarage tilled
and we should
be in a position to do that once tillage has been completed
throughout the
country," Mlambo said.
A total of 1.3
million hectares are targeted to be put under maize
by communal and A2
farmers with an average output of 1.6 million metric tons
per ha expected.
The central bank has introduced a maize and sorghum
production facility of
one trillion Zimbabwean dollars (about 12.5 million
US dollars) to support
A1 and communal farmers with seed and fertilizer.
The
government recently said the maize producer price for the
2005/2006 farming
season would be announced after harvesting to factor in
the actual costs
incurred by farmers.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing fuel
shortage for the past five
years and recently the government said it would
allocate 50 percent of all
fuel imports to farmers.
However, individuals are now allowed to import the commodity using
free
funds.
The country requires 1.8 metric tons of maize for
livestock and
human consumption annually. Enditem
The Herald
(Harare)
December 21, 2005
Posted to the web December 21,
2005
Harare
THE Department of Agricultural Engineering and
Technical Services in the
Ministry of Agriculture is seeking to launch a
three-wheeled "walking"
tractor to augment animal-drawn farm
implements.
The Industrial Development Corporation, in conjunction with
the Department
of Agricultural Engineering and Ministry of Industry and
International
Trade, has already carried out tests in Shamva.
The
demonstration has shown that, with some adaptation, the proposed walking
tractor can be of immense use in Zimbabwe.
The three-wheel tractor is
in line with the new Industrialisation Policy
adopted by the Government and
would be specifically made for small-scale and
rural farmers.
With
the necessary adjustments the tractor could prove very useful to
small-scale
farmers not only in Zimbabwe but those from neighbouring
countries.
Simple and cost-effective, the walking tractor,
manufactured and widely used
in China, is powered by a small motorised
engine that can either be built
with a seat and driven like a tractor or
fitted with handle-bars and be
guided by a person, as is done with
draught-drawn farm implements.
The tractor is expected to benefit largely
the more than 155 000 families
resettled by the Government under its land
reform programme which it
embarked on 2000 to give land to the
landless.
Most of the newly resettled farmers do not have the resources
to buy
expensive farm implements such as tractors.
After the
completion of the exercise, the Government is now focusing on
mechanisation
as it seeks to boost agricultural productivity.
21 December 2005
Fellow Zimbabweans,
I know
Christmas 2005 is not going to be as it should be for most of us.
Traditionally, the Christmas and New Year period offers us a time to
commemorate the birth of Christ, re-unite with our families, exchange gifts
and relax in our homes. But this year is different. My heart bleeds for the
millions out of work, the millions without food, the millions affected by
Operation Murambatsvina and the millions living with HIV and Aids.
As
Zimbabweans, our needs are known and basic. We seek our freedom. Robert
Mugabe and Zanu PF have forced half the population to survive on food
handouts from international donors, despite abundant land, abundant farming
skills and abundant water bodies in our land. We live in an unsafe and
insecure political and economic climate. We cannot assemble and discuss our
plight in peace. Millions have sought refuge in neighbouring countries and
beyond. We are denied our basic rights. We are denied access to critical
medical drugs. We have no support. We are among the worlds
poorest.
The crisis in our country is well documented. It is a crisis of
governance.
The crisis has pushed us back to a level where the quality of
life and life
expectancy are at the lowest level since time immemorial --
all because of
the dictatorship and tyranny imposed on us by Robert Mugabe
and Zanu PF.
We have been brought down to this level of poverty and
deprivation by an
intransigent regime that refuses to listen to the nation
and snubs advice
from the international community. Zanu PF and Mugabe have
tossed aside the
ideals of the liberation struggle, entrenched a culture of
sycophancy and
political patronage and threatened the existence of our
nation as a cohesive
unit. Families are torn apart and our children roam the
streets, with a
future in ruins.
The MDC shares the national
predicament. The MDC is with the people. The MDC
and the people shall
triumph. Our political renewal process and leadership
re-generation
programmes promise a strong, united force with sufficient
numbers and
sufficient determination to confront the dictatorship in 2006.
The people
rejected the Senate. The people have lost faith in elections that
breed
illegitimate outcomes. The people rejected piece-meal approaches to
the
search for a lasting solution to the national crisis. The crisis has
deepened to a point where a national resolve to take it on, once and for
all, must be muscled up as a matter of urgency. We are working with the
people to ensure that we free ourselves and determine our own
destiny.
The past six years opened up numerous lessons for us in the MDC.
The
experience we amassed shall be extremely useful as we shape out a
born-again
strategy for intensive resistance in 2006. We shall involve all.
Our
resistance is a national project. All democratic forces shall have a
stake
in this struggle. We shall be inclusive; we shall seize opportunities;
and
we shall organize and rally the people for change.
As we head for
the final lap in this struggle for change, let me place on
record that we
were faced with a coup attempt in October to subvert your
will. We found our
unity and our focus sabotaged by starry eyed opportunists
with a dangerous
power agenda that has nothing to do with your individual
and national needs
at this time of a serious national crisis, an energy
sapping national
emergency and a solemn political disaster.
I am happy to note that we
have dealt with this temporary diversion by
surrendering the party back to
you, the owners, to take corrective measures.
Your guidance and direction
have put us back on track. The entire country
now feels the dominant
presence of the MDC. The opportunities created by
recent political
turbulence in the MDC -- generated and inspired by Zanu PF
and its
infiltrating moles and cronies - have paved the way for immense
challenges
and pushed us back to the positive spirit of 1999.
By the end of the
festive season, we shall meet as a leadership and finalise
the Congress
process. So far, seven out 12 party provinces have new leaders,
new
programmes and a sharp eye on the national crisis. You put your trust in
them. They have to deliver a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning, in terms of
their contract with you, the people. As President, I shall lead from the
front. I shall make sure that we put the nation back onto the rails after
subjecting the dictatorship to a sustained programme of
resistance.
We are expecting about 13 000 elected delegates, genuine
people's
representatives at our Congress to reaffirm your belief and
conviction in
freedom and democracy; to reassert your right to choose your
leaders of the
future and to map out new strategies for change,
reconstruction and
development.
Zimbabwe remains a great country and
for all the problems we are
experiencing we remain a remarkable example of
national discipline,
principle and hope in Africa. Given the right
leadership, policies and
management, Zimbabwe under an MDC leadership shall
soon assume its place in
Africa as a beacon of hope and promise for all
Africans.
The MDC shall remain steadfast and committed to its principles,
and its
primary goals. We are determined to defend your right to peace,
prosperity
and security in the land of your birth. Let us use this festive
period to
reflect on the events and developments of the past six years. That
reflection and self-introspection should guide us into the final stage of
our resistance. We have adopted a paradigm shift, identified what works,
discarded ineffective strategies and we are ready to go. We shall remove the
roadblocks to change.
On behalf of my family and the leadership of
the MDC, I wish all of you a
family filled Christmas and best wishes for the
New Year. May God bless you
all?
I thank you.
Morgan
Tsvangirai
President.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 21, 2005
Posted to the web December 21,
2005
Harare
CHITUNGWIZA residents went into day three without
electricity yesterday with
many expressing fears that the blackout could
spill into Christmas.
Although Zesa Holdings officials have set tomorrow
as the day when
electricity would have been restored in the town, residents
are pessimistic
that the power utility would meet the
target.
Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company managing director
Engineer Ben
Rafemoyo said work was progressing according to
plan.
"We are still on course and in fact indications are that we could
restore
power much earlier. The weather has been kind to us a situation that
made
work easier and faster.
"If we can beat the target and bring an
early christmas present to the
suffering residents, the better," said Eng
Rafemoyo.
Firewood vendors in the town were registering roaring business
while scores
of desperate men, women and children invaded nearby bushes and
others moved
across Nyatsime River into a nearby farm in search of firewood
for cooking.
Residents complained of the expensive firewood, where three
pieces of
firewood weighing less than two kilogrammes were being sold for
$30 000.
"Zesa Holdings must do something fast to assist us because the
problem is
causing untold suffering to residents. Most of us had bought
chicken and
beef for the festive holiday but we have now been forced to
throw these away
after they had gone bad as a result of the power outage,"
said Mr Dominic
Chinyanga of Zengeza.
Another resident Mrs Christine
Chitengwe said: "This is promising to be a
bleak Christmas for us because
during this period people buy food in bulk so
that you at least have a
memorable holiday. But much of it has gone bad and
we have had to throw it
away."
Eng Rafemoyo said work on replacing distributor cables of the
remaining
transformer had been completed and what remained was reconnecting
the
transmission cables.
The transformer would be able to produce 50
megawatts of power against
demand of 70 megawatts.
This, he said,
would necessitate the introduction of load shedding during
peak
hours.
Residents are being forced to travel long distances to get to
Chitungwiza
Town Centre -- the only grocery shop that has electricity -- to
buy food.
People coming from areas such as Units O, P and N in Seke and
St Mary's and
Zengeza are travelling distances of between five and fifteen
kilometres.
Business people in the town said they have lost potential
revenue during the
three days they had gone without electricity.
"We
have had to throw away large stocks of chicken we had hoarded in
anticipation of brisk business normally associated with holidays," said a
businessman at Makoni who preferred anonymity.
SABC
December 21,
2005, 16:30
The Border Control Co-ordinating Committee in Limpopo has
resolved to
increase the number of traffic officials to 39. This is aimed at
easing
traffic congestion at the Beitbridge border post in Musina, which is
manned
by 24 traffic officials. Earlier in the day, vehicles wanting to
cross the
border into Zimbabwe were queuing up to eight
kilometers.
Maggie Mabuza, the spokesperson for the committee, says the
queue is caused
by inadequate staffing at the Immigration and the South
African Revenue
Services (SARS) departments at the border
post.
Lorraine Makola, the chairperson of the Border Control
Co-ordinating
Committee, says members of the South African National Defence
Force (SANDF)
will assist the police and border officers in keeping order.
Makola says the
committee has looked at all problematic areas and that have
been addressed.
"They are putting toilets outside the area and we are
also talking to the
road people, who are also coming on board, to help us
out. We have also
looked at queue marshaling which as something we did no
have before", says
Makola.
diamonds.net
By Jeff Miller Posted: 12/21/2005 1:48 PM
(Rapaport...December 21, 2005) Zimbabwe's deputy minister of mines
and
mining, Tinos Rusere, confirmed to the press that some $100 million in
minerals, including diamonds, have been smuggled out from five mines in the
region of Midlands Province. The target location for diamond smugglers has
been South Africa, where they would then be shipped to international
markets.
An investigation into the matter revealed diamond
production, gold,
and magnetize mines are involved in smuggling operations
throughout 2005.
The Herald Business newspaper reports that
investigations have led to
big companies being involved in "similar, shady
practices and investigations
are underway at some mines."
Zimbabwe holds deposits of diamonds, gold, nickel, chrome, and a
reported
platinum reserve, which is said to be one of the largest in the
world.
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2005 2:13 AM
Subject: Reporters Forum: The SWRA
foot soldiers
Reporters Forum begins a new series interviewing its
correspondents on the
ground. They talk about their work and the risks they
take to bring out the
Zimbabwean story. The guest this week is Lionel
Saungweme who works from
Bulawayo. He was recently placed on a list of 64
Zimbabweans whose passports
are to be seized at entry/exit points in the
country. How does he feel about
being put on such a list? Is it worth the
risk given the worsening media
environment? He gives us a snippet of his
research article 'Project October:
The assault on the Zimbabwean
media.'
Check website. www.swradioafrica.com for details of the
programme.
Lance Guma
Producer/Presenter
SW Radio
Africa
0044-777-855-7615