Covid-19 hampers Kapiri Engle Glass operations

THE multi-million dollar Kapiri Engle Glass Factory which started full operations last month has suffered a setback due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The US$15 million factory ran by a Chinese investor, with a production capacity of about 50 tonnes of flat and laminated glass per year, offloaded on the Zambian market has employed about 150 local people. Human Resource Manager, David Mbangu said yesterday in an interview with the Daily Nation that the company had been badly hit by the effects of COVID-19 having gone into full operations in March this year. Mr. Mbangu said the factory which sells its product on distribution and agent basis has lost market as most of its customers had closed their businesses due to the outbreak of the global pandemic. He said production has also been affected after the factory sent home about 110 workers to enforce the government guidelines of maintaining only essential workers to avoid the spread of the diseases in workplaces. “We have been affected by the coronavirus, we just started full production last month in March this year. We have reduced manpower and we are a company that needs enough manpower, we have also lost our customers because they have closed their businesses,” he said. Mr. Mbangu assured that the factory would resume full production once Covid-19 was contained in the country. He further assured that none of the workers that had gone on a break due to the disease outbreak would lose their jobs as the company would re-call them when the global pandemic was controlled. The factory located along the Great North Road uses 40 percent Zambian raw materials for the products, among them coal and lime from Maamba and Mpongwe districts while soda is imported from Bostwana.