By CHATULA KANGALI – THE Zambia Forest and Forestry Corporation (ZAFFICO) plans to venture into sawmilling in the near future. Company planning manager, Charles Kapoma said in an interview at the just-ended Zambia International Trade Fair( ZITF) in Ndola that the company had plans of venturing into sawmilling using its raw materials to create more jobs for the locals. Mr Kapoma said ZAFFICO was currently concentrating on expanding its plantations to meet the growing demand for timber on the local market. “Once we have enough wood, we will go into sawmilling so as to add value to what we produce and create more jobs for the locals,” he said. Mr Kapoma said the company was in the process of establishing a pole treatment plant in Kitwe which was expected to be ready by the end of this year. He said the plant would be treating power transition poles, construction and other utility poles. He said the corporation had expanded its eucalyptus plantation to feed the pole treatment plant. “We are growing more eucalyptus because this is the type of wood used for making poles, the demand for this wood is still low on the local market because sawmillers do not have a technology of processing it,” he said. Mr Kapoma said ZAFFICO was currently supporting more than 900 sawmillers, employed 360 workers and had more than 4,000 seasonal employees. The corporation has five plantations namely Ndola, Ichimpe and Lamba on the Copperbelt Province and Kawambwa and Shiwangandu in Luapula and Northern provinces respectively.