The Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry, EPCCI has observed that the importation of maize by government will negatively affect the country’s economy.
EPCCI President, Thomas Mtonga told Breeze News that the expenditure on importing maize will be too high when the same money would have been used for other programs in the country.
Mr. Mtonga says this is a wakeup call for government to plan well by securing enough maize bought from farmers so that there is food security in the country.
Mr. Mtonga says the decision to start importing maize is raising a lot of questions as to why the maize bought from farmers last year was sold and how the money from the sale of maize has been spent.
He wondered whether space for storing imported maize will be found because government said that last year’s maize was sold due to lack of storage space.
The EPCCI President says the imported maize may not be good for people’s health as it may be GMO, Genetically Modified or Yellow maize.
And Mr. Mtonga says controlling Cross Border Trade is a challenge because there are no laws that restrict the trend.
He says this has resulted in most locally produced products such as mealie-meal not lasting in the province as it is mostly being transported to neighbouring countries like Malawi and Mozambique.
Mr. Mtonga however, says the situation is good for business people because they are assured that mealie-meal will finish after ordering.