Fri, 29 Sep 2017 10:07:49 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
IT is now time to stop treating mining firms with kid gloves over their reckless disregard of laws that govern their existence, says ZRP leader Wright Musoma
Mr Musoma said bold decisions must now be taken to end this rot if Zambians were to benefit from their God-given natural resources.
Mr. Musoma said while mining companies were making a fortune out of their businesses in Zambia, the country had continued to lose revenue though certain loopholes which it had failed to seal.
He said Zambians also had not fully benefitted from job creation as they were forced to scramble for opportunities with expatriates who were given preference.
Mr. Musoma said there were a lot of wrong things going on among mining companies which bordered on non-compliance to rules and regulations that govern their existence to which the Ministry of Mines and its line ministries had unfortunately turned a blind eye.
Mr. Musoma cited the controversy surrounding the award of contracts to Zambian firms and the continued outsourcing of labour as some of the challenges that had remained unresolved despite repeated calls from stakeholders to end the rot.
“Not long ago, the Petroleum Transporters Association of Zambia (PTAZ) brought to the fore, a very important issue on how international logistics companies are getting transportation contracts from the mines and sub-contracting Zambian firms whom they pay peanuts yet these international companies don’t do anything for the mines but what is the ministry doing to end this rot?,
“ Probably nothing. It is business as usual because this is not the first time this issue is coming up,”” he said
He said the issue of employment of expatriates at the expense of the locals who have equivalent professional qualifications has always come up from time to time.
“We have been too soft on the mines and this is the reason why they have held us to ransom for a long time,” Mr. Musoma complained.
He said it did not make sense for mining companies to continue threatening job cuts each time copper prices on the world market dwindled or when there was a power supply impasse because the firms were making a fortune from the country’s mines.
