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BENEFICIARIES of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) who have failed to pay back the loans they obtained now face prosecution and loss of property, Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Emmanuel Chenda has said. Mr Chenda told Parliament on Tuesday evening that Government had started repossessing property and will soon start prosecuting all the people who obtained CEEC loans but had failed to pay back. “Something is being done about those who never repaid the loans. We have actually started repossessing the property and the people involved will be prosecuted,” he said during the debate on estimates for the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry . Government, he said, would also reopen the CEEC loan disbursements and work with seven banks and micro-finance companies to help in loan recoveries. “We are also aware that many Zambians did not benefit from the CEEC facility and are determined to empower themselves to contribute to national development,” he said. Mr Chenda also bemoaned the influx of substandard products in the country. He said in a policy statement in Parliament that the continued flooding of substandard products in Zambia was a great concern to Government and his ministry. “We want local and foreign investment to flourish but substandard products remain a great source of concern to Government and the Ministry of Commerce ,” he said. The minister said next year, the Government would embark on expansion of multi-facility zones to promote trade and investment. He said the Chambishi multi-facility economic zone (MFEZ) had created 10,000 jobs while an investor had agreed to start the Lusaka South MFEZ, which would be opened next year alongside another one in Nakonde, on the border with Tanzania . He said exports, both traditional and non-traditional, had been growing and reached K9 billion in 2012 recording an increase of nine per cent. Mr Chenda said Government was happy that growth had continued to be recorded in the manufacturing industry. MMD Solwezi Central Member of Parliament (MP) Lucky Mulusa condemned the over-importation of goods, and called for opening of industries in Zambia to create more jobs. Patriotic Front Nchelenge MP Raymond Mpundu urged the Government to ensure speedy industrialisation of rural areas to promote development. “Government should also restrict substandard products especially in the motor vehicle industry,” he said. United Party for National Development Mazabuka Central MP Garry Nkombo urged the Government to lift the ban on CEEC funds and publish names of beneficiaries for public scrutiny.
Times of Zambia
