CHINESE INVADE MWINILUNGA

… as they acquire timber concession licences after offering Zambians huge amounts of money and kick them out of the business

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

A TOTAL of 14 timber concession licences out of the 20 that were offered to Zambian producers in Mwinilunga District have been sold to the Chinese who have brought huge machinery and are ravaging the forest with impunity after offering huge sums of money to Zambians.

Timber Producers Association of Zambia (TPAZ) president Charles Masange has told The Scoop in an interview that the current performance of the timber industry among local concessionaires in the country is worrying as some Zambians have sold their birth-right to the Chinese who are exploiting the sector.

Mr. Masange bemoaned the exploitation of Zambian timber by the Chinese nationals which he said had continued to limit the growth of the timber industry in favour of local timber traders.

He explained that huge timber production equipment had been installed in Mwinilunga by a Chinese company that is recklessly harvesting various timbers yet the ministry of Green Economy and Environment was failing to take action.

 “The Chinese, who are the potential buyers in the timber sector, are now able to cut trees at huge rates and sell. It is very sad that 14 out of the 20 concession licenses that were issued in Mwinilunga district alone have been sold to Chinese nationals which means that the whole district is owned by the Chinese. The Government has continued to lose revenue from the timber industry. For half a year now, the timber industry has continued to underperform,” Mr. Masange lamented.

He said that the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment should strike a balance in terms of promoting climate change as well as timber trading.

“From the time this ministry was created, the country has lost not less than 1 billion Kwacha in terms of revenue as the timber industry has remained dormant. The ministry is just focusing on climate change without much engagement with stakeholders on how the sector can adequately contribute to national development while promoting climate change,” he said.

He emphasized on the need for the Government to consider forming a timber auction market at which the timber producers could sell their products unlike the current system of using middlemen who were allegedly exploiting them.

He said the Zambian timber producers were failing to compete favourably with producers from other countries within the regional economic grouping who had access to the ports within their countries for easier shipping to the export markets.

He said there was a need to promote value addition to the Zambian timber before it could be exported to earn more from money timber exports.

He added that allowing Chinese in timber production in the name of value addition was a big loss to the country, hence need to find effective ways of protecting the natural resources from being exploited.