Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, Paul Kabuswe has said that the UPND Government will find a competent investor, to take over Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) on the Copperbelt once the liquidation process of the mine comes to an end.
Addressing KCM workers, who wrote a petition to President Hakainde Hichilema, Mr. Kabuswe said consultations are underway on which investor will take over the mining giant.
The Mines Minister said Government is aware of the operational challenges that resulted in ruining the welfare of thousands of workers and their families.
He added that the new Dawn government will not subject Zambians to suffer once a new investor takes over KCM.
Mr. KABUSWE assured KCM workers that Government will address their problems starting with the issue of salary increments.
Meanwhile, some KCM workers who took turns complaining to the Mines Minister about their problems appealed to Government to immediately conclude the liquidation process of KCM.
Jeremiah Konkola told the Minister that the liquidation process of KCM has taken too long to be completed.
Mr. Konkola said under the liquidation of KCM, workers have not had a pay rise adding that their salaries are not sufficient to meet their family needs.
Another employee, Sudden Chembe expressed confidence that the UPND Government will soon find an investor who will take over KCM.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kabuswe has urged mining companies to invest more in their operations and unlock the potential of their sites in the wake of favourable policies under the new dawn administration.
Mr. Kabuswe says mining companies in the country should step up mining activities and ramp up production.
The Minister says this is in tandem with the United Party for National Development -UPND’s aspirations to produce 3-million tonnes of copper in ten years.
Mr. Kabuswe who is also Chililabombwe Member of Parliament said this during a tour of Lubambe Copper Mines where he also met with management and staff of the mining firm.
He explained that ramping up production will help the country to earn more revenue which is critical to supporting the economy and communities.
Mr. Kabuswe has also urged mining companies to step up efforts to support the communities they operate in for residents to benefit from the mineral wealth.
He said government will continue supporting the mines for the benefit of Zambians.
Mr. Kabuswe urged management at Lubambe to help build housing units in Chililabombwe to stop the trend of ferrying workers to and from other nearby districts where they live.
The minister later held a meeting with workers who are concerned about short term contracts from some contractors, as well as disparities in salaries.
And in response, Mr. Kabuswe said government will resolve the issue of contracts with the contractors and urged management to harmonise salaries for Zambians and expatriates.
And Lubambe Mine Chief Executive Officer, Tim Duffy thanked Mr. Kabuswe for the advice and counsel.
Mr. Duffy said management is encouraged by the new dawn administration’s accessibility which he described as refreshing.
Bringing Vedanta to Zambia was a huge mistake,an act of corruption… a credible investor will be warmly welcomed by all Zambians and not just KCM employees…hope we have learned our lessons.LETS GO NEW DEAL !!
Just wait… Vedanta can come in a different form.
Sorry KCM workers, you have been duped. The new investors will bring big machinery to mine accesses to orebodies and develop orebodies to extract ore and haul broken ore to processing plant, use advanced metallurgical process to almost excract every thing. There will be no employment to talk about both for you and your Children , even if they get A stars in Mathematics and sciences. Only afew people will be employed and paid enough for three meals a day and pay school fees. Our morals are corrupt in that we never taught today’s youth that some countries do not have these resources. Otherwise the youth would have said we are the investors.
Thanks to our hardworking UPND government, it is evident that the mediocrity we saw in the ubomba mwibala alya mwibala regime is behind us
I told you right here that its not easy to run a mine but the usual suspects ridiculed me and praised incompetent Lazy Lungu…this mine would have been legally ceased from Vandenta and a smooth transition to new owners done by now but PF were in hurry to make a quick buck. No “competent” investor would touch this mine with ongoing disputes regarding previous owners even with record high copper prices again its the Zambian people left with the short end of the stick and PF goons are enjoying themselves.
We are confident the UPND will control the mining sector well because PF was a total disaster
Garlic,
You’respot on.
Deep mines like Konkola can only operate profitably through mechanisation. This process commenced in Boliden in Sweden in the late 1970’s and is applicable throughout the world today. Using manual labour vs machines has numerous disadvantages, namely:
**Men are accident prone
**Men become tired
**Men make mistakes
**Men take lunch breals
**Men go on strike
**Men can sabotsge a mine
**Men need PPE
**Men take sick lleave
**The list is endless…HENCE MECHANISATION FOR KONKOLA
At a time when many are pushing for an increased participation by Zambians in the mining sector Kabuswe is talking about letting KCM slip from the hands of Zambians. Zambians must also change the begging mentality. Why don’t employees submit a management buyout proposal and use their accumulated pensions as part of the payment? The defective UPND manifesto also talks about according as many Zambians an opportunity to own mines. So what Kabuswe has stated isn’t in conformity with the current trends in the mining sector. However, I’m not surprised because the Oppenheimer family are members of the UPND.
We are in trouble…
The “Talking Tom” Govt, full of conmen and the master conman. Five years under these talk show conmen will be like 20 yrs. Vasco dagama is quietly pushing his money into safe havens. The loosers are the voters who put him in power that is how it goes.