Unions (ZCTU) General Secretary Roy Mwaba
LABOUR and Social Security Minister, Fackson Shamenda has directed the labour office in Livingstone to submit a detailed report on the death of two people engaged by a Chinese construction company to dig a trench.
Mr Shamenda ordered his officers to submit the report within a week so that the cause of the accident could be determined.
The two, Chishimba Mukuka aged 30 and Morris Namambo who was 28-years-old died after a four-meter deep trench caved in and buried them, leaving one critically injured.
Mr Shamenda said it was unfortunate similar accidents were being reported in the construction and mining industry.
“So officers lets have this report by next week so that we know what could have caused this accident. It is unfortunate that we have had a lot of these accidents especially in the construction and mining industry, not only here but also on the Copperbelt Province,” Mr Shamenda said.
He said the Government had raised a lot of safety concerns in the construction and mining industries.
“It is unfortunate that such a tragedy has happened. We have raised safety and precaution measures with both employers and employees and it is time we took remedial measures,” he said.
Mr Shamenda advised companies in the construction industry to submit their profiles to the labour offices across the country and also ensure they were registered under the Workers’ Compensation Board.
Mr Shamenda said company profiles would help screen companies especially those operating in the construction industry to lessen the number of accidents.
He said this in Livingstone on Wednesday afternoon after visiting the survivor of the accident, Obvious Mukoya, 25, who was at Livingstone General Hospital receiving treatment and was in stable condition.
The three, who were all working for a Chinese construction company, CICO construction, were digging a trench to lay new pipes for the Southern Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO).
When you have get the detailed report, and then what? Everyone including children knows how all Chinese companies abrogate Safety Rules, and this is not the first time we are losing loved ones. Upto now no companies’ licenses have been revoked or companies fined. Life has gone on! So stop mocking our people, as if you would do anything this time! We know how compromised you are and the high levels of your not-being-serious!!!
shamenda zezulu,,,,,unless as usual, detailed report!! those workers died on the job because there was no safety measures,,,, those are the details i have given you,,, so go and arrest those chinese
Prosecute the contractor. It is sad that these contractors are going about without carrying out the necessary safety precautions. I remember something like this happening some time back in lusaka in kabulonga around hilltop hospital or thereabout where excavations collapsed and two people or so died. How do you excavate over 2 metres without propping in unstable soils. It is bound to happen but in a quest to save on money these contractors take chances. At what expense? Loss of lives which no amount of compensation will bring back.The minister talks about workmen’s compensation my foot! It is like he is already absolving the contractor of responsibility May their souls rest in peace
Useless and stone aged. Just like talking and no actions..how long have you guys been talking even to matters that really matter? Two lives have been lost, cost of living sky high and you got guts enuff to talk about bumper harvest? One wonders!!!!
It’s a dilemma. We lose lives when we do manual labour – when the Chinese bring machinery operated by just one person to do the job of all those loved ones, we have no jobs and no livelihoods, and as they say in PF, no money in our pockets…yawn…
Do we have Safety Inspectors that visit construction sites in the country? If yes, what do they do to the violators of the Safety Policy?