COFFIN MAKERS BATTLE FOR RAW MATERIALS
THE second wave of Covid19 pandemic has brought almost all businesses to an unprecedented halt.
Zimbabwe has been placed under a 30-day lockdown, subject to review, to try and contain the spread of the deadly virus.
With the number of Covid19 related deaths increasing daily, one coffin maker Maxwell Chatindo says it is now difficult to acquire raw materials to meet demand.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has brought huge demand for coffins, people are dying at an alarming rate compared to what we were used to in the previous years, this has brought a strain in terms of raw material acquisition as most of our stuff comes from Malawi and South Africa,” Chatindo told H-Metro.
“We are not getting enough material to produce adequate coffins, ferrying these raw materials from Malawi and South Africa has proven to be difficult since we are under lockdown. Also, there are other consumables we use in the production of coffins and it’s also difficult to get them as most of these hardware shops are not classified as essential service providers.
“We supply coffins to various companies in town as well as individuals but to be honest we are overwhelmed, this Covid-19 pandemic is real because if you see the demand, we have now it has almost doubled the demand we used to have years back when there was no pandemic,” he added.
“Purchasing raw materials in bulk locally has negatively affected our operations as seen by the increase in prices as we try to break even, it is my plea to the Government to assist us to easily import our raw material as we are living in strange times where lives are being lost at an alarming rate.
“I think its high time all progressive Zimbabweans accept that the virus is now within our communities and we should follow religiously all the guidelines that are given to us by the Government as well as the ministry of health.
“Recently the Government said that every person who dies of the coronavirus should be buried in the town he or she dies in or go for the expensive hermetically sealed coffin to ferry their beloved to their final resting places and I understand that not all citizens can afford these coffins as they cost almost double the price of an ordinary one. As service providers we always try to offer quality services to our clients at reasonable prices but during this pandemic its quite difficult to operate at a profit.”