By ROGERS KALERO
ONLY old mines scheduled for recapitalization should be exempted from paying the Mineral Royalty Tax National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW ) Treasurer Saul Simujika has said.
The exemption, he said, was on account of the reinvestment exercise imperative in revamping their operations to increase production.
He has also called on Government to ensure that it had access to genuine production figures because many mines were in the habit of losses when they were making huge profits.
He claimed that some mining companies were cheating to create an impression they were making losses in order to renege from offering employees reasonable conditions of service.
Mr Simujika said some mining companies were in the habit of declaring fake losses to get sympathy from government so that they can award mediocre salary increments and poor conditions of service to their employees.
“We have had mining companies claiming to be making losses to avoid giving their workers better conditions of service. Some investors have been in the habit of giving mediocre salary increments and poor conditions of service to their employees.
“This, we will not accept as a union. So government must ensure that it has ac- cess to genuine production figures of an individual mining company so that they do not cheat that they were running on losses when in actual fact they were making huge profits,” Mr Simujika said.
Mr Simujika also said Greenfield mining com- panies especially those in North-western province were expected to pay the Mineral Royalty Tax (MRT) because their production costs were low hence they were making huge profits.
He said, apart from paying the MRT, Greenfield min- ing companies like those
in North-Western province should also ensure that they continue to improve the welfare of their employees and also get involved in significant Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
He said the mining companies should engage in significant Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) so that they could partner with government in changing the face of the North-western province.
“Greenfield mining com- panies especially those in North-western province are making huge profits because their production costs are low. So, in this case, we expect them to pay MRT unlike those old mines which need recapitalisation.
“They should also give better conditions of service and better salaries to their employees. We would also like to see significant Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) so that they could partner with government in changing the face of the North-Western province,” he said.
