TIMBER traders have appealed to Government to assist them with training opportunities for them to be producing quality products which will promote the local industry.
According to Zam Doors association member of Lusaka’s Mandevu trading space, Lloyd Mwanza, most of the customers were not buying the locally made products such as doors because of the poor quality.
In an interview with the Sun,Mr Mwanza explained that local timber dealers needed to be trained to guarantee quality of their products.
“We sometimes just work with people with this skill then we tap from it and establish a business, we are not trained in carpentry. We make doors which sold for between K600 and K750, each depending on the type of customers,” Mr Mwanza said.
Mr Mwanza also said the traders lacked proper machinery to treat the timber to last long.
During the hot and rainy seasons, he said, the applied vanish started shading away from doors because the timber had not been treated.
Mr Mwanza said the doors only lasted up to five years and then they began developing problems because the timber was not treated.
“We do not have the machinery of which if we make ideal doors. So you will find that water would start passing through the doors. The doors can also easily be attacked by ants, this is one of our biggest challenges that we face here.
“We are asking Government to assist us with machinery, once we have the machinery, that means our business can grow because we will be making profits and have confidence that the products will last long,” he said.
