The Zambezi Portland Cement factory has been going through its worst phase in the last one and half year. Ever since the ITL took over the factory, there has been a massacre that has depleted the resources and exploited the liberty of the workers. A factory that had been doing an exceptional job in 2014-15 was found to be running under a big loss at the beginning of 2015. But then Zambia Reports came up with an interesting coverage in December 2016 where it claimed that ZPC is the best employer of the year.
The question is not how did this happen but, what led to such a publication? Well, the answer is that the management of ITL was under tremendous pressure to answer the people of Zambia as well as the Government about the status of ZPC. There were a couple of publications as well that hinted that things were not certainly going smooth within the factory. Around the second half of 2016, a news revealed that 47 workers from the factory were removed as the factory didn’t had sufficient work for them. Then there was also another news that the factory has leased out its trucks and premise to third parties.
The above-mentioned reports are enough to suggest that the factory was not in a good shape. Moreover, internal resources suggested that the management had been silently shifting all the cash from the factory cash box to their personal off-shore accounts. Given such a poor condition, it is definitely worth considering that whether Zambezi Portland Cement would be able to run for another year or not. At the moment, the factory needs the attention of the locals as well as the Government so that it can be saved from being abandoned by the Ventriglias. Will ZPC can withstand another rough year?