All parastatals in the red- Maridadi

Tafara MDC-T MP James Maridadi has said all parastatals in the country are in the red and need urgent revival.

Speaking in parliament Maridadi said there are more than 75 parastatals in this country.

"The Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development (Patrick Chinamasa) is actually on record saying that, prior to Independence and into independence, parastatals contributed 40% of GDP.  Parastatals are the nudes around the Minister of Finance's neck.  There is not a single parastatal which is not in the red - National Railways of Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe, ZBC, CSC and all of them," he said.

"I will go straight to the Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill because it also talks about inconsistencies in policies and disharmony in the Executive.  The Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill which was passed by this Parliament, three quarters of the debt that was assumed by this State with the approval of this Parliament, is yet to be verified."

He said they do not know how much people borrowed; they do not know what what that money was used for.

"It is yet to be verified and yet this Parliament has passed that Bill and it is now a law. $1, 3 billion," Maridadi said.

Maridadi said the country would be able to deal with hunger when it has money.

"If you have no money you cannot deal with the issue of hunger. The reason why I am talking about corruption at ZIMRA is because it is money that will be collected by ZIMRA that will be given to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development for him to be able to import maize, grain or food subsidies. That is why I am talking about corruption at ZIMRA, otherwise I have no business talking about corruption at ZIMRA," he said.

"The reason why I am talking about parastatals is because parastatals are at the core of Government service delivery. The reason parastatals were formed is because they deliver service to the people on behalf of Government and parastatals should do so profitably. That is why I am talking about parastatals."