…we will not let them go free like we did the last time, says National Union of Miners and Allied Workers president, Saul Simujika
By SHARON ZULU
VEDANTA Resources Plc will have to be “policed” to ensure that the investor does not breach any of the terms of its shareholding agreement in Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) president, Saul Simujika has said.
Mr Simujika said NUMAW was available to work with Government to ensure that Vedanta fulfilled its promises when it returns to KCM as the 80 percent majority shareholder.
“We are available to police and also looking at those issues that Vedanta has promised, we are together with Government. I think we need to police them on what they will be doing, we should not let them free like we did last time, they must be policed,” Mr Simujika said.
He was speaking when he featured on Millennium TV’s Business Day programme under the topic: The State of the Mining Sector.
Mr Simujika also said the loss of value and deterioration at KCM was worrying, which required to be urgently resolved.
He said miners were now being assigned to cut grass instead of doing the jobs that they were engaged for.
“Instead of doing the jobs that they were engaged to do, they are assigned to go and cut grass. You are a mine captain then you go and start cutting grass. So they know what is happening. Productivity has terribly gone down, KCM does not meet the production targets anymore,” Mr Simujika said. He, however, said the possible return of Vedanta to KCM had brought renewed hope to the workers because the investor would restore productivity.
“Primarily, what we need to see is that Vedanta must come quickly and reinvest and put in capital in this asset so that we start development. We have gone away from developing the mine and we are just processing, so we need to get there and start developing so that we start producing our own copper instead of relying a custom copper, which is coming from other countries,” Mr Simujika said.
He said NUMAW expected Vedanta Resources on its return, to immediately improve the conditions of service for the workers who had suffered and stood with the company to sustain it to its current state. “We also want them to really handle the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility, which we had lost on the Copperbelt in the towns where KCM is operating, so they need to quickly bring back that face, bring back that CSR.
“We are also expecting that when they bring in their resources, they must not forget the contractors that have done a lot of work for them… for the company and the mine, those that have not been paid. There are some huge sums of money that the contractors are being owed by KCM so they must come and resolve all these issues so that they can also now be able to manage their employees,” Mr Simujika said.
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