By ROGERS KALERO
THE Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development Safety Department must carry out a serious forensic audit at JCHX Chambishi Mine to establish whether the company has been following the mine safety regulations following the number of accidents which have resulted in fatalities in the last three months,’ Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) General Secretary George Mumba has said.
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Mr Mumba said the number of accidents at the mine is worrying, hence the need for investigations to be carried out.
Mr Mumba was speaking in an interview after the mining company recorded a mine accident in which a 38-year-old Boomer Operator, Mr Duncan Bwali died early on Thursday.
“We want to express very serious concern over the increasing number of mine accidents at JCHX Chambishi in the last three months, we have experienced three fatalities. This means that each month, we have lost one miner. This is unacceptable.
As a union, we are urging the MSD to carry out a serious forensic audit at JCHX Chambishi to establish whether the mining company has been following the mine safety regulations or not following the number of mine accidents which have resulted in fatalities in the last three months,’’ Mr Mumba said.
He also urged other mining companies to prioritise the safety of miners so that mines are not perceived to be death traps, but safe and productive working places.
“We want miners to be guaranteed safety and not a situation were mines will be reduced to death traps. We want the safety of our miners to be guaranteed,’’ Mr Mumba said.
And Mr Mumba has said miners are becoming worried with the situation at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Mopani Copper Mines (MCM).
He said miners are hoping that very soon, the government will ensure that the two mines become viable. “While the miners understand that the two mines were big assets for the nation which needed to be handled very well, the miners thought it had taken long and hence there was increasing anxiety and worry amongst themselves.
We know that Government is concerned about the two mines also and we believe it is doing a background check on the investors that need to take over these two giant mines so that we don’t make a mistake as a country.
“You wish to know that issues of investment require due diligence, especially that these are two big national assets which require to be handled very well,” Mr Mumba said
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