DEATH TOLL MOUNTS AS SEARCH FOR MOZAMBIQUE CYCLONE SURVIVORS WIDENS
RESCUE workers extended their search for survivors of devastating floods brought by the powerful cyclone Idai that ripped through southern Africa, killing hundreds of people and destroying buildings and farmland. The death toll has risen to 217, and about 15 000 people, many very ill, still need to be rescued. A priority is to push into remaining areas affected by the flooding that had not yet been explored in search of people needing rescue.
Helicopters are ferrying people, some plucked from the roofs of buildings and treetops, to the port city of Beira, the main headquarters for the huge rescue operation.
CLOSE to 100 truckloads of Zimbabwe’s wheat imports are holed up in Beira after Cyclone Idai damaged infrastructure and made most roads impassable.
Chairperson of the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) Tafadzwa Musarara revealed this after appearing before the Justice Mayor Wadyajena-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and Agriculture.
Musarara had been summoned to give oral evidence on the procurement of grain and wheat by GMAZ, foreign currency allocations that GMAZ received from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) from January 2015 to March 2019. The committee wanted proof of all wheat acquittals, names and contacts of suppliers and transporters and donations made by GMAZ.
During the committee meeting, Wadyajena alleged that Musarara had approached senior government officials, the military and intelligence services seeking protection so that he does not appear before parliament.
“I thought the purpose of the committee meeting was for me to give an update on the wheat situation as we are in another drought period. Logistics wise, Beira is currently inaccessible with close to 100 trucks of wheat that are supposed to come to Zimbabwe stuck there. The wheat is now wet and we thought we were going to share this with the committee,” Musarara said.
“However, there is a ship with our wheat which will be docking in Maputo and the load will go through Chiqualaquala via Rutenga and then come to Harare.”
Musarara said the load of wheat from Maputo is expected in the country in two weeks, adding that bakers were meanwhile only getting 45% to 50% of wheat requirements.
He said the country was growing 200 000 tonnes of wheat when the requirement was 400 000 tonnes, adding that the country’s wheat was gristed, implying that bakers would have to mix it with other imported wheat in order to produce quality bread. |