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George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
Zanu-PF has challenged the Cold Storage Company (CSC), which resumed operations here last year, to spread its tentacles to other parts of Masvingo, taking advantage of the province’s position as a major cattle-producing region.

President Mnangagwa oversaw the reopening of Masvingo CSC’s plant in June last year, stoking high hopes that the province’s fortunes as a major source of beef were on the rebound.

Zanu-PF secretary for Production and Labour Cde Josaya Hungwe on Sunday said the resumption of operations at the Masvingo CSC plant should have ripple effects on the province’s beef  industry.

Cde Hungwe said the ruling party would continue to cajole Government to make sure CSC regained its yesteryear foothold in the province’s beef industry.

“We are not resting on our laurels with regards to CSC in Masvingo because we want to see the company reclaiming its yesteryear glory and we will continue to push Government to invest more resources so that the company taps on the vast livestock population in Masvingo,” he said.

Cde Hungwe said CSC management should come up with quick strategies to turnaround the company’s fortunes.

“I will soon be leading a team of Zanu-PF leaders to visit the CSC plant in Masvingo and see how far they have gone from the time President Mnangagwa presided over the plant’s re-opening last year,” he said.

“There is no reason why that plant cannot thrive, we want to see how many beasts they are slaughtering per day now and the scale of employment and also be apprised on challenges they are facing. Our push is for CSC to expand across Masvingo province, tapping on the high cattle numbers in the province.”

Cde Hungwe said CSC could open satellite abattoirs in prime cattle-producing districts such as Mwenezi and Chiredzi and create employment in the process.

“Mwenezi and Chiredzi are major cattle-producing districts in Masvingo and CSC could leverage its recovery on the two districts,” he said.

“There is nothing that can stop the company from reclaiming its former glory because other than a state-of-the-art plant (in Masvingo city) the province is teeming with cattle, about 1,6 million cattle.”

Cde Hungwe urged cattle farmers to reduce the size of their livestock so that they would be able to provide them with supplementary feed as the province was likely to experience a drought this    year.

Masvingo had already lost hundreds of cattle to drought as a prolonged dry spell was taking its toll on livestock with some areas battling for drinking water and grazing pastures.

The reopening of the mothballed CSC plant by President Mnangagwa re-ignited hopes that the tide of unemployment was going to be reversed.

At its peak, the CSC plant used to employ close to 4 000 people, making it arguably the single biggest employer in the country’s oldest town.

Nearly 400 beasts were slaughtered at the plant daily, with most of its quality beef constituting the country’s beef exports to niche markets such as Europe and the Far East.