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Source: Army rescues 20 marooned villagers | Newsday (News)

BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI IN CHIMANIMANI

OVER 20 people who had been isolated in areas around Skyline in Chimanimani following the carnage caused by Cyclone Idai were yesterday rescued through joint efforts by the Zimbabwe National Army and other partners.

Commander of 3 Infantry Brigade, Brigadier-General Joel Muzvidziwa, who was in charge of the rescue operation, confirmed the development.

“We have recovered a number of people, particularly from Gonga village, which is the worst hit. We are, however, going into other areas to look for more people,” he said.

Muzvidziwa said there had also been mudslides in the Rusitu area, but they were hoping to make more recoveries because the water levels were now manageable.

A government medical officer in charge of the team of doctors attending to the rescued people, Themba Nyoni, said they had attended to several patients affected by the cyclone.

He said the most common ailments were head injuries, fractures, broken limbs and pelvises as well as fractured hips.

“There are also a number of patients who may need special care in a hospital,” Nyoni said.

He said while the physical injuries would heal soon, psychological trauma was likely to take longer.

“There is a lot of trauma. It’s one of the major things. Many of them will need psychiatric help, especially those that have lost whole families or children,” he said. “So after treating the injuries, the mental health aspects will need to be attended to.”

Several helicopters were dispatched for the rescue operations while a number of non-governmental organisations were also on the ground assisting the victims.

A temporary relief centre was also set up at Skyline.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected there today.

Cyclone Idai, which also hit Mozambique and Malawi, has left close too 100 people dead and many more missing in Manicaland.

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Source: Tobacco farmers, merchants on collision course – NewsDay Zimbabwe March 20, 2019

BY FIDELITY MHLANGA

TOBACCO farmers are on collision course with merchants who are demanding repayment of loans issued to farmers in United States Dollars, as the contract tobacco sales commence.

The tobacco marketing season officially starts today with auction floor sales.

Contract farming accounts for more than 70% of the country’s golden leaf.

Tobacco farmers, through various member associations, have sought recourse from the central bank and the Agriculture ministry over the matter, contending that the move by the tobacco merchants would strain them.

“We note with concern that where ‘RTGS’ loans were given to growers by contractors, these are now being treated as USD currency loans in growers’ loan accounts at a rate of 1:1. This is an unfair practice. We believe this will result in many growers not yielding any significant portion of a USD retention, which will have a serious negative impact on their viability,” the tobacco grower associations said in a letter addressed to the Agriculture ministry as well as the industry regulator seen by the NewsDay.

“We believe that “RTGS” loans should be settled with RTGS currency. We urgently need the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to intervene in this matter. We are only aware of one company, Northern Tobacco, who have separated their USD and “RTGS” loan accounts as agreed in meetings with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.”

These associations include Zimbabwe Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union, Zimbabwe National Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, Tobacco Association of Zimbabwe and Tobacco Farmers Union Trust.

This comes after the central bank offered to pay tobacco growers 50% in foreign currency and the rest in RTGS dollars.

However, the farmers are demanding that the RTGS portion of their payment be paid at a rate above the current interbank market exchange rate of RTGS$2,76: 1 USD as of March 18, 2019 in order for them to be able to retool for the next season.

“All growers should be treated equally and, therefore, the retention period for large-scale tobacco growers of 180 days should be removed and all entitlements treated as “free funds”, as with small-scale growers. There should be additional flexibility on the use of funds through the issuance of tobacco specific visa debit cards,” the letter reads.

“We take note of the commitment to settle sales proceeds “within the shortest possible time”, however, the term used is subjective and indefinite.
Settlement timeframes both for RTGS and nostro FCAs proceeds need to be clearly defined. Speedy settlement of growers’ proceeds will ensure the smooth marketing process and fewer, unnecessary inconveniences to growers”.

Statistics from Tobacco Marketing Industry Board showing that 42 083 farmers from 34 025 last year had registered to grow tobacco as of March 13 this year.

Tobacco is the country’s second biggest export-earning commodity after gold.

Last year, the country’s tobacco output reached an all-time high of 252 million kilogrammes, earning at least $1 billion in revenue.

However, prospects of a bigger output in comparison to last year are slim, following this year’s poor rains.

 

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On his way to Buhera South, Zimbabwe main opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa took an oxen drawn cart as he crossed the Birchenough Bridge. Chamisa was touring places in Manicaland Province devastated by Cyclone Idai.

Source: Nelson Chamisa uses oxen drawn cart to cross Birchenough Bridge – VIDEO – Nehanda TV

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Source: Rescue efforts continue in Chimanimani | The Herald March 20, 2019

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Source: Potraz summons Liquid over tariff hike – NewsDay Zimbabwe March 20, 2019

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

THE Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has summoned Zol Zimbabwe for questioning over its unauthorised data tariff increase, NewsDay has learnt.

Zol Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of Liquid Telecom Group, announced that starting April 1, 2019 tariffs would be offered in United States or RTGS dollars, effectively increasing the tariffs following the devaluation of the RTGS dollar against the greenback.

The tariff increase came before Potraz has made a decision on a request by telecoms players for an upward review of tariffs.

“No. They did not get that from Potraz. In fact, we do not regulate Zol. But we do regulate Liquid and also saw that (increases in tariffs) so we are now going to find out from Liquid what this is all about. I was not in office and I am going to the office right now and will be finding out from Liquid … but we did not give them that permission,” Potraz director-general Gift Machengete said.

“But right now, because I have not engaged Liquid, it might be premature to comment any further. Maybe after engaging Liquid, which I am going to be doing this afternoon, I can comment further.”

Liquid Telecoms is a subsidiary of Econet Wireless Group.

In the new tariffs to be introduced by Zol Zimbabwe starting April 1, the internet services company gave a price range of between US$29 to US$339 for their different internet packages or a comparative RTGS$72,50 to RTGS$847,50.

Zol Zimbabwe tried to justify the increases in a statement on Monday, indicating that the new packages came with a free data top-up.
“Liquid is excited to announce the increase of data to all capped packages as of April 1, 2019. This effectively decreases the price of data per GB.
ZOL understands that data is crucial to you and believes that this will enable you to get the best out of your usage and gain even more value,” the statement read.

ZOL chief executive Denny Marandure on Monday said they were aligned with Potraz, denying that they had increased prices and, in fact, stated that prices had not increased since 2017.

“Our data has actually become the cheapest ever… Base prices remain unchanged since 2017. I am trying to help you. Do not write an article that is misinformed,” he said, before cutting the call with NewsDay.

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