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Tisetso Sebata

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
A STATE of the art milling plant will soon open its doors in Beitbridge to boost agro-processing and create employment opportunities in the district.

The plant, which is owned by Top Pick Investments, was acquired from China and has been assembled at the company’s Zhovhe Farm some 80km west of the border town.

The company’s chief executive officer, Mr Tisetso Sebata, said the plant had the capacity to mill 20 tonnes of maize and eight tonnes of wheat per day.

“We are still finalising the licensing issues and very optimistic that we may start full scale operations in a few weeks to come,” said Mr Sebata.

“This is part of our initiative to boost economic development and agriculture production in Beitbridge. Our ultimate goal is to be able to feed into national economic growth. In addition, this is an opportunity for us as an organisation to create jobs for people in this area, especially the youth and women.”

He said the company’s target clients were communal, resettled, commercial farmers and irrigation schemes in Matabeleland South province.

Mr Sebata said the plant, which runs on both electricity and a backup generator, will be operating on 24 hourly basis but would not disclose the investment involved.

“The whole idea is to create a one stop milling shop under one roof for people in this area. We have equipment to produce peanut butter and flour among others. As an organisation we strive to provide the missing link in terms of economic and sustainable development in Beitbridge,” said Mr Sebata.

He said besides establishing the milling plant the company had a thriving horticulture project at the Zhovhe farm. Mr Sebata said they were also producing 1 500 tonnes of maize and 1 000 tonnes of what per season. It is understood that Beitbridge requires 500 tonnes of grain for consumption monthly.