Copperbelt Forestry Company (CFC) says it is in the process of signing a deal with ZESCO, which will see the company supply 6,500 transmission poles to the power utility company.
A source who sought anonymity said currently, CFC has no running contract with ZESCO but is likely to sign a contract with the utility company next week adding that ZESCO would be awarding the company contracts in phases depending on how much poles it is able to supply at a particular time.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, the source explained that the company is still cutting poles noting that some poles will dry in November and December and it takes five to six months for poles to dry.
“There are local contracts which after talking to us they said they will sign but the difference is what they want to get from outside, so for what we have now, we are signing the contract by next week. We are getting orders from ZESCO, they have given us, we are just finalising on the signing part”, the source said.
The source explained that the company currently has poles equivalent to the order that ZESCO has given them and is capable of supplying 30, 000 poles by the end of the year.
“They came to our plant and checked what we are able to supply now. They are giving us an order and when we have some more dry poles, they advised that we indicate to them that we have poles and we will be able to supply”, the source said.
Last month, the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) cleared ZESCO over its decision to procure wooden poles from Zimbabwean and South African companies stating that the use of Limited Bidding procurement method by ZESCO to acquire the treated wooden poles was within the law.
ZPPA Director General Idah Chulu said ZESCO relied on section 42(2) of the Public Procurement Act No.8 of 2020, which states that when there is an urgent need for the goods, works or services and engaging open bidding would be impractical, limited bidding procurement method would be used.
