By Vita Banda
FORMER Mufulira constituency aspiring MP Godfrey Luchele has appealed to government to come to the aid of the over 1000 miners on forced leave at KCM.
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JCHX-MMS had sent more than 1000 of its employees on forced leave after production at KCM had slumped following the acrimonious departure of Vedanta Resources, which has since returned to take up the ownership of the giant copper mine.
Mr Luchele says government must come in fast to save the jobs of over 1000 JCHX-MMS miners who are on forced leave and have not been paid.
He stated that the miners had not been given formal letters and had not been told when the forced leave was coming to an end hence government should come to their aid.
This follows the announcement of the return of Vedanta to KCM.
Mr Luchele said JCHX-MMS, the major contractor at KCM had stopped production and had put its workers on forced leave because KCM was owing the contractor more than US$30 million and wants this money to be settled before it can continue with production.
He said it was unfortunate that even after JCHX-MMS management serving the Ministers of Mines and Labour and the District Commissioner with the letters about its decision to send employees on forced leave, the government had failed to sit with the branch union and JCHX-MMS management to chat the way forward.
He has since appealed to Vedanta Resources to expedite the process of releasing the pledged $250 Million to clear contractors and Suppliers.
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