Editor,

Refer to the story, "Ndoli, the 78-year-old who dreams of reviving sisal production, export” (The New Times, January 14)

Mr. Ndoli, at his age, his social role ought to be—as it used to be in all traditional societies the world over—to lead the way to living safe and well.

That indeed is what he is literally doing at his sisal farm: all aspects of life in his workers’ team, including even fending off snake bites, are fully being considered.

He is a real role model that we all should emulate, now and later in life. Bravo and many thanks.

He is quoted saying: "People didn’t know the use of these things; most times they would cut them down and throw them to waste.” Those ‘things’ are around 20 and more plants that, are being cut down and thrown away because; ignorantly, they are thought to be useless weeds and shrubs, especially by the younger generation.

And yet from those ‘things’, we could get all needed quantities and qualities of fibres that could be put to several uses, both in crafts and in industry, each presenting specific physical, chemical, mechanical and aesthetic properties unfound in petroleum based fibres.

Some of those ‘things’ could also be used to fulfil other needs, for instance in human and animal nutrition and medicine, in agriculture, in cultural revival and enjoyment, etc. Another huge and yet disparaged and despised own resource, preferred over imported replacements!

When will our policy makers and decision takers privilege our own natural capital in their socio-economic planning? Why can’t we have a full-fledged plant fibres industry immediately planed and put in place, and protected against some shoddy imports that in many ways we, the commoner, silently suffer from following often blindly, not well informed use?

Why can’t Mr. Ndoli, and all like-minded old timers, as it used to be not so long ago, be publicly given more forums, to teach and show the young generation the right way to a real-as opposed to the actual generally chimeric – good life?

Francois-Xavier Nziyonsenga