‘Reviving CSC Chinhoyi branch top priority’

REVIVAL of the moribund Cold Storage Commission Chinhoyi branch remains a top priority for the new dispensation and it will be done in the shortest possible time, a Zanu-PF Politburo member has said.

Addressing thousands of people at the launch of the Makonde Senator’s Sporting Tournament in Chinhoyi recently, Zanu-PF national secretary for environment and tourism Cde Prisca Mupfumira said the revival of CSC Chinhoyi branch would soon be a reality.

“President Mnangagwa has said CSC Chinhoyi, which will employ our people and allow the country to once again export meat to other countries needs to be opened and it shall be opened,” she said.

“A deal to revive CSC was once in place, but some people in the old dispensation threw spanners in the works and scuttled whatever plans that had been set in motion.”

A deal involving the National Social Security Authority had been thrashed out, which would have seen the branch resuming operations by the end of 2017.

The project would have seen the restructuring of the parastatal’s ownership structure, with NSSA assuming an 80 percent stake and Government taking up the remainder.

However, the deal collapsed and new options are being pursued.

The Chinhoyi branch was one of the largest employers in Mashonaland West Province at its peak.

Years of alleged poor management, corruption and lack of innovation to deal with competition from private sector meat suppliers worked to cripple the once thriving meat processor.