ARDA workers still unpaid
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Agricultural Rural Development Authority workers at Roy Bennett’s former
Charles Wood farm here have not been paid their wages for over five months.
14.09.1108:08am
by Zwanai Sithole Harare
Workers told The Zimbabwean that they last received salaries in March this
year.
As a means of survival, the workers have now resorted to stealing Bennett’s
property such as vehicle spare parts, workshop equipment and corrugated iron
sheets from workers’ cottages.
“ARDA’s workers have stripped Charles Wood farm of everything which Bennett
left. They are not getting paid and ARDA is only running a grinding mill
which was left by Bennett. The coffee bushes have all been cut,” said a
worker at the farm who refused to be named for fear of victimisation.
The worker said most of Bennett’s tractors and trucks had been stripped of
spare parts and the parts were being sold openly in Chimanimani town.
“If you want spares for UD trucks go to a person called Hazvinei Chikati. He
works for ARDA and is selling equipment stolen from Pachedu’s farm,” said
the worker.
Other workers said living standards at the farm had deteriorated. “The water
system is no longer working and the pipes have been vandalised. The workers
are now using nearby bushes as toilets,” he said.