Cynthia Chitombi
Manufacturing giant United Refineries Limited will resume operations on Monday next week after shutting down its Bulawayo factory due to acute water shortages.
The URL shut down its Bulawayo factory early this week but in a statement, the personal care and agro-commodities manufacturer said they are engaging the Bulawayo City Council to ensure operations return to normal.
The company said their engineers were working together with the Bulawayo City Council water department to ensure water supply to the Kelvin Industry is restored.
“Based on the feedback from the joint team, our factory operations should resume by Monday the 9th of November. We are grateful for the responsiveness of the Town Clerk and the City Water Engineer’s office for giving attention to the issue of resuming water supplies to the Kelvin Industrial Area,” the URL said.
The company said they were also pursuing other medium term strategies together with its partners to augment water supply for factory operations.
“United Refineries Limited remains committed to serving its growing customer base with essential brands, which have become part and parcel of the daily lives of our customers.”
URL chief executive Busisa Moyo had earlier this week announced that plans to sink boreholes at the factory had been hampered by a declining water table.
The personal care and agro-commodities manufacturer has been in existence since 1946 and exports its products to countries in the region including Namibia and Botswana.
In 2018, the company announced that it was preparing to list on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
As of December 20, 2013, the company started operating as a subsidiary of Grindrod Limited producing such products as Roil cooking oil, Image bath soap and Sunshine cooking oil.
