By KASONDE KASONDE –
THE Zambia Prisons Service is next month set to build a state-of-the-art milling plant in Petauke, in Eastern Province, with capacity to produce 200 tonnes of mealie-meal per day.
Prisons Service deputy commissioner general for operations Lloyd Chilundika said once fully operational, the plant would be expected to offer competitive prices of mealie-meal and maize bran to the general public across the country.
“Eastern Province produces above 500,000 tonnes of maize each farming season and the decision to locate the industrial milling plant in the province is to promote the agro farming industry in the area,” Mr Chilundika said.
He said the project was independent, but complementary to the small solar milling plants being set up by the Zambia Cooperatives Federation countrywide.
The construction of the industrial milling plant in the province would benefit the farmers as they would have a ready market for their produce and would not need to depend on the Food Reserve Agency.
Mr Chilundika said the plant would promote small-scale farmers by allowing them to export mealie-meal to Malawi and Mozambique.
“Currently, maize produced in the province is transported to Lusaka and after milling, the mealie-meal is transported back to Eastern Province, which is a cost, but with the coming in of a milling plant, it will reduce the cost for the farmers,” Mr Chilundika said.
Mr Chilundika said Government institutions such as schools, colleges and hospitals were buying mealie-meal at high prices, but they would be able to buy at a reduced price once the milling plant was fully operational.
He said with the milling plant, Eastern Province would see increased poultry and dairy farming due to the availability of maize bran.
Meanwhile, the Youth in Action for Sustainable Development has praised the Government for buying six milling plants for the Zambia National Service in a bid to reduce-mealie meal prices in the country.

. LUNGU

Youth in Action programme manager, Rebedy Lukwesa said the President’s initiative would see prices of Zambia’s staple food drop and become more affordable for the people who had been crying for the Government’s intervention.
Mr Lukwesa said the Government should be commended for the move as there was monopoly in the milling industry which had seen consumers being exploited with high prices of the staple food.