Open Mansa Batteries, says Chanda

THE abundance of manganese in Zambia, which is used in making batteries, should trigger the resuscitation of Mansa Batteries, New Congress Party (NCP) president Peter Chanda has said.

Mr Chanda said the Covid-19 outbreak must motivate Zambians to identify opportunities and become innovative and productive.

“Youths can come together, lobby for financial support and capacity empowerment to start mining manganese then appeal to the government to resuscitate Mansa Batteries that can create jobs and contribute positively to the development of our economy as a country,” he said.

Mr Chanda said in a statement that it was high time citizens started thinking of industrialization because doing trade alone cannot develop the economy.

He said the abundance of manganese wealth in Zambia should trigger the resuscitation of Mansa Batteries and many other dormant industries.

“That is why the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) which looks into government stakes in companies must re-position Kapiri Grass to start fully functioning so that the country starts exporting to enhance government’s treasury,” he said.

Mr Chanda said the country must come up with measures and policies to stop importing things that could be produced locally. “We have trees that can be used to make matches but it’s sad that these trees can only be sold by vendors who cut them into pieces without value addition and sold on the streets for people use to quicken lighting up of fire. Technocrats can mobilise and create an industry,” he said.

Mr Chanda said Zambia had the best water and the largest water bodies in the whole lot of Southern African which should be utilised for agriculture purposes.

He urged people to embrace agriculture by growing more food to make Zambia a food basket in the region.

He also urged the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to set up more storage facilities to ensure there was no wastage of maize for the country to enhance food security.