Firm set to lay off workers
... the company has arrived at this decision due to the prolonged load shedding hours and non- profit making
RECYCLEMENIA Trading Limited is set to lay off workers due to prolonged long hours of load shedding which has affected its operations.
The company’s Managing Director, Harrison Musonda, said in an interview that it is unsustainable to run the factory as power was coming at awkward hours between midnight and 05: 00 hours when he employees have knocked off.
Mr Musonda said it is unfair for foreign business entities to be given empowerment incentives at the expense of local ones with similar or better ideas of bettering the country’s economy.
He cited Trade Kings which recently disclosed of setting up the biggest recycling plant in the country despite them having no idea in the recycling of waste and have been given a hefty empowerment package and yet Recyclemenia Trading Limited has not received any financial empowerment from the government.
“The heaps you are seeing in the background would have been in the compounds and drainages but we have done the environment a favour by collecting and bringing them here for recycling,” he said.
Mr Musonda stated that before load shedding came into effect, his company was making profit and employing close to 1, 000 packers from the dump site and over 50 workers at the factory.
He said the company was making more than K100, 000 weekly but can now barely raise a K50, 000 on sales.
He also complained that the high cost of diesel is hampering the collection of materials from the dump site, stating that the situation is taking his company to bankruptcy and closure.
Mr Musonda also said the continued depreciation of Kwacha has impacted the company negatively on the sale of the recycled materials as his company is being forced to sell more for less resulting into losses.
“The weak Kwacha has made us fail to pay salaries promptly because we have to spend more on buying material and this will result in a loss of jobs,” he said.
Mr Musonda has appealed to the government to ensure that they introduce favourable load shedding hours to save manufacturing companies.