Agriculture Reporter
GOVERNMENT has not yet paid fertiliser companies for fertiliser they supplied for the winter wheat programme. The Herald yesterday established that Trea­sury was yet to pay undisclosed amounts to the companies for fertiliser delivered since May.
Windmill marketing executive, Mr Herbert Chakanyuka said they had delivered close to 3 000 tonnes of Compound D and were yet to receive payment.
“We started delivering fertiliser to the Grain Marketing Board at the end of May but since then we have not received a single cent.
“We have at times dipped into our coffers to give transporters part payments while we wait for Government to pay us. We always send our invoices through the GMB, which relays them to Government,” said Mr Chakanyuka.
He said they needed cash to buy raw materi­als.
Windmill, said Mr Chakanyuka, expected to complete delivering its entire amount of          4 000 tonnes of Compound D by next Wednesday.
Nyiombo Investments Zimbabwe country manager Mr Mackford Machona said they were facing challenges retaining the trans­porters they started the programme with, as they also had not been paid.
“We need cash to pay the transporters we hired for the job and to fund our operations too,” he said.
Statistics from the GMB, however, tell a dif­ferent story.
GMB general manager Mr Albert Man­dizha revealed that Windmill had so far deliv­ered 1 780 tonnes with a balance of 2 220 tonnes while ZFC has delivered 930 tonnes and is yet to deliver 1 570 tonnes.
Nyiombo has delivered 1 710 tonnes of Compound D and has a balance of 4 290 tonnes.
Windmill has also delivered 510 tonnes of Compound C and is yet to deliver a balance of 60 tonnes but has not delivered AN for which it was contracted to supply 4 000 tonnes.
ZFC was also contracted to deliver 2 000 tonnes of AN but has delivered nothing.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti could not comment on the matter as he was said to have gone for a meeting while Secretary to the Trea­sury Mr Willard Manungo was also said to be in another meeting.