Mr Kafwabulula said here on Thursday after inspecting the FRA Mumbwa main hoarding depot that most satellite depots have no sheds and the bags of maize are kept in the open.
“I have sent all people [managers] into the field to go for crop securing countrywide. We are trying to make sure that we move, as soon as possible, all the stocks [of maize] that might be in the outlying areas to the satellite depots.
“I have senior people [managers] to make sure that the bags of maize are moved from satellite depots to safe storage facilities,” he said.
Mr Kafwabulula, who is also on the same mission, said his staff will do a physical count of the bags of maize bought and verify the figures recorded in the books.
“We want to make sure that the figures we are reporting are actually what are there. We don’t want to say that we have bought 10 bags of maize when on the ground there are only five bags,” he said.
Mr Kafwabulula said FRA managers will ensure that the maize that has been bought is also properly fumigated.
He said he is aware that the correct procedure is to fumigate the maize once after three months but he wants the maize to be fumigated earlier to protect the produce from rotting.
“It’s almost three months from the time we started buying maize, so the maize is almost due for fumigation. But if we can fumigate it slightly earlier, it is even better. We want to make sure that the maize is fumigated in good time,” Mr Kafwabulula said.
FRA managers sent to secure maize from different parts of the country
FOOD Reserve Agency (FRA) executive director Chola Kafwabulula has sent all his managers to different parts of the country to secure the maize that has been bought from farmers during the ongoing crop-marketing season.