By CHATULA KANGALI –
ZAMBEZI Portland Cement (ZPC) Limited wants to retain ownership of Ital Terrazo, a company it staked as collateral to obtain a US$4.5 million loan from Finance bank.

• PART of the remains of the defunct Ital Terrazzo limited which was once an active concrete manufacturing company before it was put under receivership in 2008. Picture by CHATULA KANGALI

Ital Terrazo Limited, located in Ndola’s Industrial area used to manufacture high quality concrete floor, roof tiles and blocks until September 2008.
Ital Terrazo Limited Managing Director Daniele Ventriglia said in an interview in Ndola that ZPC wants to retain its sister company after paying off the loan.
Mr Ventriglia said Finance Bank had put the company on receivership after acquiring the loan in September 2008.
“We paid off the loan in excess of $12 million. We can’t understand why Finance bank is still holding on to the company despite paying off the loan in 2012. We are, therefore, urging the Bank of Zambia to look into the issue,” he said.
Mr Ventriglia said the facility was currently defunct and that all the equipment had been vandalised.
“It is a pity that what once used to be a running company has become a shell. This company employed 120 local Zambians as of 2008, but what you see here now is a heap of scrap. This company was an investment for the people that were working here,” he said
He said that provided the company is retained, ZPC would revitalise it by diversifying from the previous production line.
Mr Ventriglia said the company would consider bringing in a new production line which is currently not produced in Zambia.
“It will be difficult for us to get  back into the market with the  previous production  because  customers have forgotten about us, the market in concrete products is now taken by our competitors, It will be so difficult for us to regain our business status,” he said.