GRAIN Marketing Board (GMB) acting general manager Lawrence Jasi has revealed that the parastatal was generating a paltry $1,5 million in sales against a target of $4,5 million per month due to undercapitalisation.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Jasi made the remarks when he appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts on Monday, where he was grilled over GMB’s lackadaisical approach to business.
He said GMB has remained heavily undercapitalised since dollarisation of the economy in 2009.
“Most of the time it is difficult to get resources from Treasury and we are not making money at the moment. We can only generate $1,5 million against targeted sales of $4,5 million,” he said.
Jasi told the MPs that GMB was now trying to penetrate the stockfeeds market, adding as a result they had secured a $30 million plant in Norton.
“We are commissioning a stockfeed plant and are still trying to penetrate the stockfeed market. We are also doing third party storage where farmers or traders might want to store their grain at a cost. We have joint ventures with a Chinese company at Msasa where we manufacture empty bags.”
He said the $30 million Norton plant project was almost 70% complete.
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GMB has 84 depots across the country where farmers are supposed to sell their grain.
