Hwange says now able to pay salaries

By Sikhumbuzo Moyo in Hwange

Ailing coal mining giant Hwange Colliery Company Limited says it is now able to consistently pay workers’ salaries as it forges ahead with its turnaround strategy.

Managing director Thomas Makore said yesterday that the firm was poised for stability and revealed that it was normalising salary payment despite the challenging operating environment. Workers at the firm had gone for close to three years without salaries.

Speaking during the 45th commemorations of the Kamandama Mine disaster that claimed the lives of 427 mine workers in 1972, Mr Makore said the company was attending to welfare issues of its staff as it values its human resources component.

“I am grateful that this year’s commemorations coincide with the company’s turnaround strategy. We are exceedingly proud to advise you that our workers have started getting salaries consistently starting December 2016. We had gone through a bad phase characterised by low production but we value our human resources component as a company,” he told the gathering.

“Notwithstanding the challenging operating environment and the challenges faced by the company in the recent past, several measures have been initiated to ensure that the company remains viable and is better placed to meet its obligations including paying salaries,” he said.

Mr Makore assured workers, strategic partners and the nation at large that the company will be revived under its recently approved scheme of arrangement and pledged to ensure provision of a safe and healthy working environment to employees.

“I am happy to inform you that the turnaround strategy has in some facets begun to bear fruits. The recent YES vote for the scheme of arrangement, which accorded the company operating space, is evidence of this positive development.

“The Company has also embarked on a Productivity/Performance Enhancement Evaluation Programme (PEEP) meant to identify process bottlenecks and immediate actions to remedy while observing, assessing and implementing actions to improve production,” he said.

Mr Makore said as the company shared the sad memories of the 1972 disaster, positive strides were being made to ensure that such tragedy does not happen again noting that a raft of measures, which include but not limited to safety promotion and behaviour change at the workplace, were being implemented.

“The company has achieved significant milestone in the area of safety, health and environment as evidenced by the many years of fatality free operations at our mines.

“Hwange Colliery has also developed SHE standards from OHSAS 18001 and ISO14001, which are internationally recognised as best practice model for management of safety and environment, and from industry best practice.,” said the managing director. The Chronicle