The opposition Alliance for Development and Democracy (ADD) has accused Government of concealing the magnitude of the problem in the mining industry.ADD President Charles Milupi said he suspects government has also realized that there is very little it can do about the problem in the mining industry.
He said that this is evidenced by how President Edgar Lungu has now taken a political route by issuing statements to show that he is doing something about the problem when in fact he is not doing anything.
[pullquote]what is even more unfortunate is that the PF government missed the opportunity to raise enough reserves when global copper prices were high by refusing to introduce windfall tax[/pullquote]
Mr. Milupi told Qfm News by telephone that this also explains why mining companies have continued on path of winding up operation despite the recent meetings the President held with them.
Mr. Milupi said that by laying off workers and placing their operations on care and maintenance, mining companies are merely making business decisions.
He said there is need to address fundamentals of the economy that are causing sectors of the economy such as Mining, Agriculture and Manufacturing to be under stress.
He said that what is even more unfortunate is that the PF government missed the opportunity to raise enough reserves when global copper prices were high by refusing to introduce windfall tax.
Mr. Milupi said that had these taxes been introduced in the mining industry, the government would have had enough revenue to intervene in the economy and save jobs in the Mines.
Well said Charles. Obviously, your days at Copperbelt Energy have endowed you with valuable insiders knowledge of the mines. I’ve been an advocate of windfall tax for over 5 years now. It was windfall tax on North Sea oil that made Margaret Thatcher one of the most successful British Prime Minister. Every mine budgets,in advance,for an anticipated selling price for copper/cobalt/gold. My formula was,whatever the selling price was above that budgeted figure, half goes to the mine, and the other half to GRZ. The mine does not fee cheated in the process, and the government is rewarded for it “God-given resources”.
What did you expect from the clueless clown Sata and this poor excuse for a President Lungu?
They have absolutely no idea of how a modern economy works and are only in politics for what they can get out of it. What did Sata do first when he was elected? INCREASED HIS SALARY FOUR TIMES!
Face the facts Zambia, PF has mismanaged and bankrupted the economy. And now they are trying to hide this fact away from the people of Zambia. Donchi kubeba all over again!
It is time to kick these useless conmen out and start the job of fixing Zambia. 2016 is far too long to wait. By that time the country will be UNREPAIRABLE!