By JULIUS PHIRI –
THE setting up of a milling plant in Eastern Province under the Presidential initiative will help uplift exports of finished products to neighbouring countries.
The milling plant will be established in collaboration with the Zambia National Service (ZNS) and the Zambia Cooperatives Federation (ZCF).

. KASOLO

Eastern Province Permanent Secretary, Chanda Kasolo, said this when officers from ZNS, ZCF and Shanxi Agricultural Planning and Design Institute chief engineer, Wang Xuejin, called on him at his office in Chipata yesterday.
Mr Kasolo observed that the establishment of a milling plant would also create exports of finished products to Malawi and Mozambique.
“I am aware that in the past, there has been no reliable milling plants in the province, although recently, I launched a private one.
“The coming of a milling plant under the Presidential initiative will definitely reduce the cost of mealie-meal in Eastern Province,” he said.
Mr Kasolo said it was good that President Edgar Lungu was working to ensure that the milling plant became a success story as soon as possible.
He said this would also cut transportation costs as the province was known to be an agricultural area.
The permanent secretary said it was shameful that the initiative was being denounced by some critics without understanding the full benefits of the plants which would be established in various parts of the country.
Mr Kasolo said more than 500 direct jobs would be created once the project bore fruits.
“My hope is that the milling plant should start working as soon as possible,” Mr Kasolo said.
ZNS Chiwoko commanding officer, Bonaventure Kunda said the major objective of the visit was for the Chinese engineers to carry out a feasibility study at the site where the milling plant would be set up.
Mr Wang said his group had carried out feasibility studies on all the 13 sites in other parts of the country where the plants would be set up.