Operations at Lumwana Mine in Solwezi have returned to normal after three days of protests by unionized workers.
Meanwhile, Senior Managers at Lumwana Mine were yesterday forced to spend a night in their offices after the irate workers locked them up in a bid to pressurize them to dismiss the Human Resource Manager Felix Sinyenga for allegedly being compromised.
ZANIS reports that the unionized workers protested for three-days demanding among other things an explanation from the management on its earlier intentions to suspend operations at the mine effective next month following government decision to introduce new mining tax regimes.
The workers also demanded that the mining firm should resume the suspended conditions of service negotiations.
The workers also blocked the road leading to the general offices where the Senior Managers were held and demanded government officials to address them.
The action came in the wake of management failure to fire the Human Resource Manager Felix Sinyenga from his position whom workers accuse of being compromised.
North Western province Permanent Secretary Amos Malupenga said the volatile situation could have been averted if management had looked at the interest of the company when dealing with the issue.
And Lumwana Mine general manager Billy MCNEVIN said the protests were unfortunate and the mine would investigate the concerns raised by the workers to avoid a similar situation occurring in the future.
Lusaka Times you are i.diots. How can you report about calm when in the first place you never reported turmoil? What is this same calm you are reporting about now? Are you telling me that your readers must got to other news sites to get facts about a story before you finally write about it towards its end? Only yesterday, you reported that the PF has denied murdering a UPND cadre when in the first place you never reported that a cadre had been murdered. Can you be this useless? We know that you only report sugar-coated stories about Govt and will not hesitate to report derogatory stories against the opposition.
I visited the mine this morning and the information I gathered is that the miners are now demanding that expatriates leave the mine because they are getting hefty salaries as compared to the locals who are paid peanuts and yet the same expatriates are not qualified and experienced than locals.
They are therefore, demanding that lumwana trims the hired labour from experts some of whom have overstayed in lumwana. Others are have been in lumwana for over 5 yrs.
The mines don’t belong to locals but to the investors. What has govt or locals invested in lumwana? Nothing! It was a bush and lumwana built it to where it is. No one has a right to dictate what the mines shud pay expats. If u don’t want the job, just leave.
I know for a fact that Lumwana’s expatriates are the highest paid in the world. I have vital information, thus:
1) The plant manager failed in Cornwall, UK, West Irian in Indonesia, In Turkey and In Vietnam. Yet, he is a key senior manager at Lumwana.
2) The Canadian Mining Engineers hired mid-last year, (some from British Columbia) are all inexperienced, yet, they are highly paid with a top 10% expat package. They even admitted to friends in Vancouver last June that they were nervous about being given such senior posts!
There’s one thing you zambians have not realised about these pf maderers.
The issue here is not what you think it is.
This an heritatated highestest whitch craft and satananism.
This is an ongoing evil from the the gates hell being perpatuated by the previous governance.
This country had been sold with high price the devil.
Remember last year I talked about how one top politician was bundled back from the the country, but went back incognito and archieved his evil mission. From that time, lot of mistrious things started happening.
Wst one thout going in details, the first one was the sloughtered live chicken in public the red flags along muchinga road. Thereafter the pf victory celebration shade a lot of blood then afcon vitory also took alot of souls.
Misterious accidents…
Get a life papa.
The issue is that the sinyenga need to be removed as human resources manager because his a seller out. The fuel experts are not required to reduce on cost. Thumb up to edger Lungu for a clear interview with SABC station
Park and go if you are not prepared to pay the tax.
Misteious road and air accidents were the order of the day, citizens were treated to unpresdented deaths and funerals.
Sangomas were also hired to add to the evil that was pepatuated by the one big politician.
Now pf has taken over the physical massercus of citizens, pf killed the former mp in ndola, killed their own fellow cadre at the airport. Pf can not deny this, they have shade a lot blood of citizens with impunity.
What pf should know is that their days are numbered and the 650 souls for savrifice remaining for 2016 will not be made.
Lastly men and women of god including prophets and intercessors have gone in oblivion and are just working for their own interest.
Pst sunday sinyangwe where are u? We have not done enough. Continue pounding with fire on gates of devils, and…
The thing is Zambians are daft. We failed to run our own ZCCM. If Zambians want their own conditions, open up your own mines. And then we will see how u run them. I bet u, nothing will work. Zambians are good at criticizing but are just dull and daft. Leave Barrick lumwana alone u morons.
Really? Why then did you not invest in the Congo? The investor is nothing if there is no minerals under our soil; and if there is no peace. So an investor need not abuse the locals simply because they invested. Such comments from people like you are the ones that fuel anarchy. If you are chased will you take the machinery on your flight back to your country?