Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) observes that failure to comply with Covid-19 health guidelines coupled with a sharp increase in cases will necessitate closure of many public and private business enterprises.
Chamber President Chabuka Kawesha told Money FM News in a statement that ZACCI is concerned with the increasing number of Covid-19 positive cases and Covid-19 related deaths now being recorded in the country, believed to be as a result of the non-compliance by the general public of the health guidelines.
Mr. Kawesha said the non-compliance in common activities areas like mini-buses, trading markets and large gathering mainly of a political nature are not helping as the observed numbers are always above 50 people.
“As an industry, we are of the view that Government put in measures that if followed we can seamlessly adjust to the new normal. The worry now is that if we fail to comply with the health guidelines and cases keep increasing sharply, it will necessitate close of many business enterprises both public and private and this is not good for industry and job sustainability and growth.”
He stressed the need for Government to urgently revisit the shot-comings before small and large ground enterprises are halted and the desired revenue from taxes significantly reduces.
“As industry players, with a great desire to have a healthy consumer and workforce, we call upon Government to urgently revisit these shot-comings before our enterprises small to large ground to a halt and the desired revenue from taxes significantly reduces.”
“We would also like to call upon city and municipal councils to take ownership of ensuring health compliance measures seriously, failure to uphold the tenets of good compliance will cause some districts to lose the fight against Covid and in-turn shift the pandemic into areas were the residents and business community are compliant,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kawesha appealed to government to include random testing in the numerous hotspots and the now publicized Pool testing if the concerns of costs remain high.
He said Pool testing has many advantages, as it can be more cost-effective and protect laboratories from becoming overburdened.
“Pool testing also speeds up the testing process because it’s far less time-consuming than getting a sample from an individual and then putting it through all the necessary lab processes,” Mr. Kawesha observed.