Nkhatabay district council drills Vizara Rubber Plantations on labour laws

By Shamuda Drake 

The District Commissioner for Nkhatabay, David Gondwe, has taken some strides to drill Vizara Rubber Plantation Company, on the importance of adhering to the Malawi's labour laws to ensure better working conditions for their employees.

Vizara asked to adhere to Malawi labour laws PIC Shamuda Drake

The District Commissioner said this during a visit to the company on Thursday. 

Gondwe observed that a good collaboration between the council can effectively strengthen and improve service delivery and adherence to labour laws that favours the workers and the surrounding communities. 

The visit comes barely a week after workers at the company downed their tools demanding better working conditions at the company. 

The workers asked the employer to improve their general welfare such as upward adjustment of salaries and housing allowances, provision of Personal Protective equipment and good health care services. 

For instance, the workers revealed that the current minimum wage at the company falls as low as K120,000 against the government recommendation of K170,000 per month while the housing allowance was still at 600 kwacha. 

However, the DC advised the company authorities to work closely with the district labour office to help enhance compliance with labour laws and improve working conditions for the employees.

"As a company, you must engage the council's labour office to ensure that you operate within the Malawi's labour laws and in turn address some of the challenges workers are facing, he said.

The company has about 1,500 workers from within the communities in the district.

The plantation along Nkhatabay road

In his remarks, the company's General Manager Shadreck Maylt said while the company acknowledges the outstanding issues with it's workers but it is difficult to meet all their needs.

" As a company, we cannot meet all the community needs but we are doing our best and will continue to do so. We understand that our success is also the community's success hence our commitment to giving back through our corporate social responsibility.

"We will ensure that we keep the council informed and formalize some of our activities," he said.

Meanwhile, the district Council Chairperson Hannock Kachingwe has observed the imbalance of the company's support saying most of its activities are one sided in the area of Traditional Authority Timbiri living out communities in the areas of Senior Chiefs Mankhambira and Mkumbira.

He was however blamed some  communities that are not following the right procedures when dealing with issues involving the company.

Vizara Rubber Plantations has a bursary programme for vulnerable learners who cannot afford to pay school fees although the district council has noted some gaps that need to be formalized to ensure sustainability and avoid duplication of efforts.

The company operates among others the  commercial rubber plantation and production of Timber viable in Malawi and Southern Africa, covering about 3.7 thousand hectares.