MINING companies operating in Eastern Province do not reflect on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EIT) report, Technical Working Group Representative Charles Mulila has disclosed.
Mr Mulila said in Chipata that this meant that the mining companies were not paying their taxes or were operating illegally.
Speaking on the side-lines of the on-going consultative meeting on Zambia’s mining legislation and policy framework in Chipata, he said Centre for Trade and Policy Development has been mandated to hold provincial meetings and find out issues affecting the mines so that they were included in the mining industry act and extractive transparency initiative bill.
He said the resolutions made by stakeholders in various provinces would be submitted to Government so that the content of the mine act was changed to benefit Zambia unlike the current situation where more revenue from the mines goes outside the country.
Mr Mulila also revealed that councils in the province to assess mining activities going on in their respective areas.
He said that about six mining companies in Eastern Province have reflected to be active in the 2013 report EITI but their operations were not benefiting the province.
Mr Mulila said that it was possible that there were more than six mining companies in the province that are operating but what they were mining was not known.
He said it was the duty of the councils to know how many mines were in their districts, their areas of operation, the minerals they were extracting, where they were selling the minerals and how much profit they are making.
He said doing so would assist the province have certain revenue to meet the provision of social services in the areas where mines are operating from.
Mr Mulila added that people of Eastern Province have for a long time been lagging behind in terms of knowing the mining activities going on in the area.
He says that there is need for government to work hand in hand with Civil Society Organisations in ensuring that there is transparency in the way the mines are operating so that it benefits the local people.
EIT is an initiative that is responsible for ensuring that mines pay their taxes.
