In Zimbabwe, cement has disappeared from the formal market since the launch of the operation to reduce prices, but one of the country’s manufacturers, Circle Cement, says it is producing up to 600tpd.
On Thursday, the taskforce on price monitoring and stabilisation visited Circle Cement’s factory in Manresa to seek an explanation from company officials. The officials argued that the company was producing more than enough for the country but were equally worried that people were not coming to buy the cement. They said they had 1200 tonnes of uncollected cement in their silos.
Chairperson for the taskforce Senior Assistant Commissioner Bothwell Mugariri said they would leave no stone unturned until they established where the product was going.
"We are moving to the manufacturers to establish how they are operating. As the taskforce mandated to analyse the situation and help bring back sanity to the economy, we are keen to understand all the industrial processes for us to grasp where things are going wrong and provide solutions," he said.
He added that the taskforce was not a barbaric entity but was taking a professional approach and consulting experts in various areas.
Snr Asst Comm Mugariri said the taskforce picked on Circle Cement as it was one of the key players in the development of the construction sector, which was facing problems of unavailability of cement.
