News / National
Loss of jobs causes child labour and destitution - Maridadi
29 Oct 2015 at 06:45hrs | Views
MABVUKU-TAFARA MP James Maridadi has said the rampant loss of jobs by many parents has led to a lot of street kids and disintegration of families as people scrounge for survival on daily bases.
" The Cold Storage Company at its peak used to employ 5 000 people and today, they employ less than 1 200 and of those 1 200, 400 have been given letters of termination," he said.
"Those 400 that have been given letters of termination and the difference between 5 000 people that were employed by CSC and those that are remaining in the CSC employed today, that difference is what matters. Those are the parents who have children that are on the streets of Harare"
Maridadi said he was driving from Bulawayo one day, and he stopped by Lake Chivero.
"I was approached by a young man who was selling fish; these are fish poachers, they go to Lake Chivero and they catch fish and sell them on the streets. He sold me the fish and he said to me, mudhara can you find me a job and I said but you know there is a problem of unemployment in Zimbabwe. He said, here is my curriculum vita (CV)," Maridadi said.
"He gave me a paper which he called a CV and put it in my car and I drove away. Over the weekend when I was cleaning my car, I took that paper and I went through it. I have never seen anybody with such a beautiful CV. The boy has seven As at ‘O' Level and 15 points at ‘A' Level. He went to University of Zimbabwe to study biochemistry and he has a First Class."
Maridadi said he also has a Masters in Food Science but he is a fish poacher.
"In a country like South Africa, just across the border, that young man would be employed and he will be earning a starting salary of 35 000 Rands but in Zimbabwe he is a fish poacher," he said. "He is not even able to get a job as a teacher because he is not a trained teacher but here is a person who is able to teach chemistry up to undergraduate level. Here is a young man who is able to teach physics up to Masters but he is not able to get a job, even as a temporary teacher at a high school although he is able to teach physics, mathematics, biology up to degree level."
He said the problem that Zimbabwe has is a problem of the economy.
"Our economy is not performing, that is why you see children on the streets of Harare. We have people that have parents that work in Government, those children are not able to go to school because their parents cannot afford to pay for their schooling and they drop out of school," he said.
"In Mabvuku alone, Tsindirano Primary School, the primary school where I did my Grade One to Grade Seven, they have not been able to get money for BEAM for the past two years because Government is not able to pay. What it means is that that school is not able to function and children will be thrown out to the streets."
" The Cold Storage Company at its peak used to employ 5 000 people and today, they employ less than 1 200 and of those 1 200, 400 have been given letters of termination," he said.
"Those 400 that have been given letters of termination and the difference between 5 000 people that were employed by CSC and those that are remaining in the CSC employed today, that difference is what matters. Those are the parents who have children that are on the streets of Harare"
Maridadi said he was driving from Bulawayo one day, and he stopped by Lake Chivero.
"I was approached by a young man who was selling fish; these are fish poachers, they go to Lake Chivero and they catch fish and sell them on the streets. He sold me the fish and he said to me, mudhara can you find me a job and I said but you know there is a problem of unemployment in Zimbabwe. He said, here is my curriculum vita (CV)," Maridadi said.
"He gave me a paper which he called a CV and put it in my car and I drove away. Over the weekend when I was cleaning my car, I took that paper and I went through it. I have never seen anybody with such a beautiful CV. The boy has seven As at ‘O' Level and 15 points at ‘A' Level. He went to University of Zimbabwe to study biochemistry and he has a First Class."
Maridadi said he also has a Masters in Food Science but he is a fish poacher.
"In a country like South Africa, just across the border, that young man would be employed and he will be earning a starting salary of 35 000 Rands but in Zimbabwe he is a fish poacher," he said. "He is not even able to get a job as a teacher because he is not a trained teacher but here is a person who is able to teach chemistry up to undergraduate level. Here is a young man who is able to teach physics up to Masters but he is not able to get a job, even as a temporary teacher at a high school although he is able to teach physics, mathematics, biology up to degree level."
He said the problem that Zimbabwe has is a problem of the economy.
"Our economy is not performing, that is why you see children on the streets of Harare. We have people that have parents that work in Government, those children are not able to go to school because their parents cannot afford to pay for their schooling and they drop out of school," he said.
"In Mabvuku alone, Tsindirano Primary School, the primary school where I did my Grade One to Grade Seven, they have not been able to get money for BEAM for the past two years because Government is not able to pay. What it means is that that school is not able to function and children will be thrown out to the streets."
Source - Byo24News
