The Government through President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday announced that Tobacco Auction flows will be decentralised as the government increase efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, The Herald reports.
This was communicated by the president as he was delivering the lockdown extension update. In the update the president said:
With regards to the tobacco sector, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has been sitting and consulting our (Covid-19 Inter-Ministerial) Taskforce and they have come to an arrangement where the tobacco auction floors are going to be decentralised countrywide to minimise crowding.
In the process, they are going to observe the measures, that is social distancing, and also the question of accommodation will be regulated as to who comes and on which day, because the areas of concentration will be limited in terms of the centralisation.
The Auction flows which usually open at the end of February or beginning to mid-March were set to open today after farmers were given more time to prepare following the 2019 drought and the subsequent erratic 2019/2020 season rains.
More: The Herald