HON. MAHACHI: My supplementary question to the Minister of Agriculture is, what is Government policy concerning other Government departments? I heard what he said concerning Pfumvudza Programme, but there are other Government departments which are requesting people to pay $1 so that they can have their inputs transported. Where I come from, there was a meeting by the District Administrator and they agreed that transporters are not able to ferry the inputs because the money that they are paid by GMB is not enough, hence there is need for each and every farmer to pay a $1 so that their inputs can be transported. What is Government policy concerning this issue?
HON. DR. MASUKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. If he had told me before we came here, I would have called the police. What you need to do is to use the number that I have given you. Just call that number.
HON. TSHUMA: From what the Hon Minister has said, GMB does not have vehicles but it invites those with vehicles in a certain area to come and do the job of transporting seed and fertilizers from their depots to farmers. The problem comes on the amount of money to be paid to these transporters; it is very low. For example, the amount of money to be paid to transporters was pegged in June this year. From ten kilometers to a certain kilometer, this amount of money will be paid per kilometer per tonne. This is where the problem is emanating from. To avoid this problem Hon. Speaker, the Ministry of Agriculture when they are paying money for inputs must peg the monies in USD so that when the transporters are being paid, they get their payments while they are still valuable. It takes three, to five months before payments are done. When offered another job, transporters refuse to do the job. That is the problem we are facing Hon Speaker Sir.
HON. SPEAKER: Hon Minister, the Hon. Member is saying, what can we do?
HON. DR. MASUKA: The area of Gokwe is different from other areas because of bad roads. For example, areas up to Chief Nenyugwa, we used to send Government cars for transportation of inputs to farmers. Currently, we are in the midst of buying lorries for GMB. The first batch of these cars are expected to be delivered before the end of April next year. We are going to increase the cars so that GMB will be able to transport grain and inputs on its own without engaging private transporters. We are saying transporters within a certain area where transportation need to be done are the ones who must be given the business of transporting inputs. If it is the issue of the amount of money being paid by GMB that it is too low and when the transporters get paid the money will be eroded by inflation, it is an issue Mr. Speaker Sir, I am going to raise with GMB and see how best we can help each other. In the next two weeks, as a Ministry, we will need a large number of lorries for transportation because that is when we start to transport inputs from GMB to different communities. I am going to discuss this issue with the GMB Board to solve the issue of payments to transporters and to make sure they are paid in time and farmers receive their inputs in time. Thank you.
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