Booking Delays Hit Tobacco Floors

Source from:  The Herald 04/20/2010

SOME farmers have been spending up to a week at the Boka Tobacco Auction Floors as they struggle to sell their crop. Yesterday, farmers jostled to book their tobacco for sale, with some saying they had slept outside the auction floors for days on end. A long queue of trucks laden with bales of tobacco lined the road leading to the market. At the Tobacco Sales Floor, farmers said they were not happy with the booking system as some bales were unaccounted for. Mr Witman Chareka of Kazangarare in Karoi said two of his six bales were not reflected in the computer for trading. "I now have to spend more time here so that I can book the rest of my tobacco," he said. A farmer from Tsamvi in the Karuya area of Mt Darwin alleged that when inquiring about lost bales, the floor workers asked for kick-backs to assist them while Mrs Gladys Madora from Headlands said she had slept in the open for days. TSF operations and marketing executive Mr Sammy Gutura said the number of tobacco farmers had increased following last year's good prices, hence the queues. He said new tobacco farmers were not conversant with the booking system. "Most of them do not have growers' numbers from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board and are using their colleagues'," said Mr Gutura. He reassured farmers that all missing bales would be accounted for. "We are working for 24 hours and as of today, tobacco going under the hammer was delivered last Friday and Saturday. "Farmers are paid two hours after selling their crop up to 6pm everyday," he said. Farmers are given US$2 000 cash on sale, with the rest being deposited into their bank accounts. Some farmers have resorted to bringing their tobacco in multiple consignments so that they can sell it separately and get US$2 000 for each batch. This has also contributed to the delays. Some farmers said they were selling their bales to middlemen outside the floors. "They say they will pay US$2 per kg and then they take it into the floors and sell it for up to US$4. "We have no choice because we cannot sleep outside for a week," said one farmer. Mr Gutura warned that it was illegal to sell tobacco outside the floors. Enditem