MP confront Minister over NRZ workers problems

MKOBA MP Amos Chibaya has confronted the Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Jorum Gumbo over the state of affairs at the National Railways of Zimbabwe considering the fact that workers claim to have gone for 15 months without pay and the same time the institutions is struggling to operate.

Asking Gumbo in parliament, Chibaya said, "My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. There are NRZ employees who have not received any salaries for the past 15 months. As a Minister what are you doing about it because it is affecting the economy as a whole, because there is nothing that is taking place at NRZ? I would want to know as the Minister is doing to ensure that the workers at NRZ are able to fend for themselves and earn a decent living."

Gumbo said Chibaya's question was affecting a lot of people here in Zimbabwe as well as families.

"It is true that the National Railways of Zimbabwe employees have not received their salaries for the past 15 to 16 months. What has been happening over this long period of time is that the workers were engaging with the management to ensure that they get at least a little of the money," Gumbo said.

"Those who occupy top management were being given $700 and those at the lower ranks were given about $175 per month. The challenge right now Mr. Speaker Sir, is that those who were giving work to the railways for example Tongaat Hulett have stopped working with NRZ."

He said other companies such as ZIMASCO folded and ZPC has also stopped engaging NRZ, which means that the little money that NRZ was able to get and the that the agreement that had been reached of them getting a little of their salary is not longer available.

"The Hon. Member went on to ask what we are doing as a Ministry, we are requesting the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development headed by Hon. Chinamasa that those who were indebted to the NRZ companies like ZISCO, ZIMASCO, Makomo, ZPC, Tongaat Hulett and GMB, to give us Treasury Bills in order to assist us in paying these workers," Gumbo said.

"The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has agreed to this and we got about $3 million that we have managed to pay the NRZ workers. We have paid them at least $3 million and we are requesting that they should come back to work and to continue working for the Government by bringing in produce from GMB."

Gumbo said as as government and as a Ministry, they also engaged in talks with other companies.

"I cannot divulge which companies - but we are talking to them in order to finance the NRZ in order resuscitate the NRZ industry, the railway lines, the locomotives as well as resuscitate signalling so that the employees work in a conducive environment without being prone to accidents," said the minister. "What we request is that NRZ workers understand what we are going through for what we are planning right now, we would want them to understand what we are doing as Government. Our aim and hope is that they remain employed. We know it is difficult to go to work without earning a salary but we asking them to bear with us as Government."