VOA标准英语2009年-Nestle Temporarily Suspends Operations

The Swiss multinational¹ company Nestle says it has temporarily suspended its operations in Zimbabwe due to safety concerns for its employees. The move comes two months after Nestle bowed to international pressure and stopped milk purchases from a farm owned by the family of President Robert Mugabe.

Scott Bobb | Johannesburg 24 December 2009

 
The Nestle spokesman in South Africa, Ravi Pillay, said the decision was made after security officials made an unannounced visit to its plant and obliged it to buy milk from what he called a non-contracted supplier.

He said two managers were questioned by police and released without charge.

"Based on the circumstances normal operations and the safety of employees are no longer guaranteed.  Nestle decided² to temporarily shut down the factory," he said.

He said the closure would affect about 200 employees.  He could not say when the facility would reopen.

Nestle stopped buying milk from a dairy farm owned by President Robert Mugabe's wife in October.  It followed international protests that the purchases were breaking western sanctions imposed on senior Zimbabwean officials and their businesses because of human rights abuses.

At the time, Nestle was reportedly buying about one million liters a year from the Mugabe farm.

Mr. Mugabe did not comment, but Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai called the decision an overreaction.

"Where companies shut down when we want to create more jobs, I think it should be a cause for concern, sure," he said.  "But what is important is what are the circumstances, so that people can deal with the causes of the problem."

The dairy farm outside Harare is one of several owned by the president and his wife.  They were part of 4,500 farms seized from white commercial farmers beginning in 2002 in a controversial land re-distribution program that continues to spark debate today.

The political agreement that brought Mr. Tsvangirai and his opposition³ Movement for Democratic Change into the government last February is calling for a land audit⁴ to identify abuses of the program, but little progress has been made on the issue.
 

1 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。