By GIDEON NYENDWA
THERE are many accidents that have led to deaths at the Black Mountain in Kitwe that have not been reported for the fear that the opposition will capitalise on it, National Democratic Congress secretary general Charles Kabwita, has said.
Mr Kabwita said it does not make sense for the UPND on the Copperbelt to claim that no deaths have been recorded to date.
He said it was unfortunate that the people who were supposed to safeguard the lives of people who work on the Black Mountain were in the forefront hiding the deaths that occurred due to poor planning from being known to the public.
Mr Kabwita said poor planning and failure to engage the right people to assist the operators with the knowledge of how to safely mine at the slug were responsible for this.
He said the process was rushed in an effort to appease the people.
UPND on the Copperbelt has disclosed that to date the operations at the black mountain have not recorded any death.
The UPND Copperbelt Acting Youth Chairman Farewell Hachingala was quoted in some sections of the media suggesting that the accidents that have happened have been kilometres from the mining site as a result of some people jumping on loaded trucks some of which are not from the Black mountain.
Mr Kabwita said it was unfortunate that the office of the District Commissioner was busy collecting money from the Black Mountain as per arrangement without minding the safety situations from where the money was coming from.
He said the DC’s office has a much bigger responsibility aside from receiving and disbursing money but also to encourage adherence to the safety guidelines that were put in place.
Mr Kabwita said the government should ensure that the safety rules that were followed in mines like Konkola Copper Mine should also be followed at the mountain to the later.
He said he appreciates government for providing empowerment to the people but the question still remains on whether they are safe or not.
