Put mines in local hands, govt urged
By AARON CHIYANZO
THE mining sector should be placed in the hands of locals so that miners are assured of job security, Youth, political and good governance activist, Lemmy Bwalya has said.
Mr Bwalya said Government had less impact in the administration of the mining industry as it was in the hands of capitalists.
He said placing the mining sector in the hands of foreigners paused a great panic in the labour system as the owners of production dictate how much human resources was needed against production.
“Job security is important for our miners to concentrate on production,” he said.
And Mr Bwalya appealed to government to charge most of its attention to agriculture, as it was the only hope and property which Zambians had control over.
“Agriculture is within our powers as a country and citizenry to contribute effectively to the growth of the economy through farming, provided, government come to the aid of this industry.
We have plenty of untilised and fertile land among others, lying idle, when our neighboring countries entirely depend on us for food and other proceeds of farming,” he said.
Mr Bwalya said if only the new government could follow the foundation laid by the previous administration in promoting diversification of economical dependency, from mining to agriculture, then the country would be heading to a bright future.
He said institutions like Zesco, ZRA, NAPSA, ZAMTEL, ZP, ZNS, ZAF, ARMY, The Church, Universities, Schools needed to own farms.
“We can work and strengthen our economy by producing more for export and improve our status through GDP,” he said.
Let all civil servants participate in this noble cause. They will pay back their loans, start afresh in life and forget about the controversial debt swap,” he said.