Mines Minister Richard Musukwa says the ministry is in the process of identifying more slug dump sites also known as Black Mountains in a bid to empower youths for them to generate income.
Hon. Musukwa says the ministry is currently in discussion with various mining companies over the same matter.
He says modalities are being worked on to ensure youths access all the slug dump sites in the country.
He has since called on youths to exercise patience as Government negotiates for them to occupy some slug dump sites.
And the Small-Scale Miners Association of Zambia is pleased with Government and President Edgar Lungu’s desire to empower young people.
Association Spokesperson Samson Mpembwe says government gave youths a percentage at the black mountain in Kitwe which has since been exhausted.
Mr. Mpembwe has since urged Government to give young people another percentage at the Black Mountain.
And Mr. Mpembwe has appealed to Government to speed up the process of giving Luanshya youths the slug dump in their town.
PF politics are only centered on black mountain. Please look at the manufacturing sector it is a game changer.
The rantings of a failed leadership that has no ideas. It’s ridiculous that the only way you can think of empowering young people is by giving left over mining dumps to PF cadre thugs.
This is a government that has failed in every respect. The only thing they have succeeded at doing is enrich themselves and promote violence.
This Black Mountain thing is NOT empowerment.
Find proper opportunities for the Youth.
In this Black Mountain are all political figures enriching themselves, hiding behind the Youth.
Do you honestly think you’re empowering the youths. Which youths are you empowering? Do you even know what age is a youth. The people you empowering are not youths. I guess you need a research on youth empowerment.
No long term vision, that is the Sata vision for youths.
Dig 10% of the black mountain, “sell” the slag back to the Chinese and drink and pose with a glass of Jameson, damage the roads, six months later the 10% is gone and the so called youths want another black mountain somewhere. PF style of empowerment.
Looks like the idea is to keep the volatile youths at bay and cheated by empowering the ring leaders also known as jerabos and keep them intoxicated.
These PF visionless leaders, why don’t you arrange to process those minerals and use the export earnings to set up real, wealth bearing schemes to sustainably empower the youths? On second thoughts, maybe PF knows that these party cadres called “youths” are just hopeless good for nothing hooligans who can never be improved in…
When you are embarrassed enough with pf scams, let UPND know, you will get registrations forms to join…..
…..These PF visionless leaders, why don’t you arrange to process those minerals and use the export earnings to set up real, wealth bearing schemes to sustainably empower the youths? On second thoughts, maybe PF knows that these party cadres called “youths” are just hopeless good for nothing hooligans who can never be improved in any way.
And satisfied with their new found wealth, our current rulers go on the mountain tops propounding the “vision” of their “founding father”, even if it has been proved to be leading them deeper into the ditch, OMG!! What vision? Create twenty new districts per year from 2011, whose council workers now you cannot pay salaries!!!
Join the red tide badala …….you won’t find these hopeless polices
Please note that the back mountain is not a sustainable business venture for our youths. please lets dig into agriculture and manufacturing, the risky black mountain business will not even swallow 0.00001% of our thousands of youths who are yearning for a living. Minister, as a matter of urgency, can you and your government stop being simplistic on serious national issues. You took the same message to the Roan bye election and the people resented it and you are still saying the same things, no lesson learnt
Is this what pf government officials will call job creation when its election time. Is there not any opposition party official that can think smarter and better than todays government leaders, especially when it comes to pensionable job creation.
So all youths from villages should rush to black mountain towns? What is the plan for youth empowerment, job creation?
Musukwa and company must stop thinking they can forever cheat the Zambian populace. We know the real “youths” behind Chapamo! Let the Chinese who are buying the slag set up treatment plants on the dumps and employ the youths. That way GRZ will be able to collect tax from the Chinese and PAYE from the youths. We will possibly see sanity on the roads by the truck drivers and above all the roads from nkana west through town center will also be spared from damage.
The US $30bn foreign debt, the useless pf govt borrowed was enough to buy heavy manufacturing equipment and processing equipment. Set up manufacturing plant in at least 1 district in each province targeting agric equipment, motor vehicle parts, stoves and fridges, food processing sectors. Forward or backward linkaged jobs (eg suppliers to the industries) would have automatically followed. This arrangement should have created enough permanent jobs to absorb some college and university graduates.
Manufacturing the goods that we import (“import substitution”) would have saved the country foreign exchange. The savings would have then been used to pay off debts in return.
Instead pf put all the money into roads. Roads dont produce goods and services*. Not in the long…
When they were spending $17 billion we told them to target manufacturing for import substitution, we were being told we are bitter ….?….?
Muzachi Ona………
I thot the minister should have said More Black Mountains to be given to Political Party Cadres
Pretending to speak for the so called youths kanshi even politicians are direct beneficiaries of the black mountain. Hypocrisy is very bad.
The development process is not neat. Jobs in subsidised state firms don’t develop a country. They are a drain. What develops is entrepreneurship and skills. Those going to the black mountains will soon realise the need to learn artisanal skills and other real skills. But it would be too late for them but their children. Hopefully, they invest the money they make educating their children to mine better rather than drink and debauch to HIV. Descendants of the “Wild West” are the exploitative miners of today. They encroached on First Nation peoples lands. Time to encroach on their perceived land and start the necessary steps to expose the youth to entrepreneurship and hard work for a livelihood, and value of investing in skills.
How many died at black mountain? Do we want more deaths?