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The Copperbelt Civil Society Mining Forum has demanded for an explanation from government over a plan it has on the Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) and Mopani for this year.
Government should outline its plans on the future for the two mines to also inspire hope and confidence among the employees and all the stakeholders in the mining value chain.
This is according to the Forum Chairperson Gerald Mutelo in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lusaka which tackled a number of issues.
Mutelo said government should explain if it had the capacity to run the mines or if it would bring in a private sector locally or foreign.
He explained that this was in relation to what was happening in the communities where these mines operate, no liquidity in the economy, no money in circulation.
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“Contractors and suppliers are not paid as the mines are barely surviving with operations, workers have not received any increments on their salaries and some miners employed by contractors have lost their jobs as their respective companies cannot maintain their workforce owing to non-payment of costs by the two mines,” Mutelo said.
He regretted that delayment in handling the situation had led to increased suffering on the host communities.
“There is need for government to tell the nation on the relationship between Vendanta Resources and our government, the government should make full disclosure of the contract it has with glencore over Mopani, what did they really agree?
“Efforts by our forum to engage the Mines Minister has failed despite making public pronouncements that the government has an open door policy therefore our appeal goes to the Republican President to respond,” Mutelo said.
He also appealed to government to start encouraging mining firms to start producing their own electricity such as Dangote in Ndola and First Quantum Minerals (FQM) in Kalumbila.
He pointed out that the issue of load shedding affected a lot of the vulnerable community members due to the mining firms which consumed over 50 percent of the national installed capacity of electricity.
If all mining firms start producing its own electricity this would help the manufacturing industries and small & medium enterprises (smes) who rely on electricity for survival e.g. babershops butcheries, saloons, bakeries etc.
“There is need for government to create an enabling environment for more private sector participation in the energy sector and not just concentrating on hydro power but also using other sources of energy like solar, wind etc,” Mutelo said.
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