Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe has vowed not to close operations at the Black Mountain amid stakeholders concerns relating to safety and health.
Several stakeholders in Kitwe including City Mayor Mpasa Mwaya have called for the suspension of operations at the mineral rich slag dump owing to frequent disregard for road safety, occupational health and environmental regulations.
Ms. Mwaya had said halting operations at the Black Mountain would enable operators to address concerns over poor safety, occupational health and environmental regulations.
Just last week an 18 year old Chrome Picker at the Black Mountain died on the spot after a rear left tyre of a loaded Shacman Tipper Truck ran over him in Kitwe when he fell from the truck which was moving from the Black Mountain to one of the identified sites for chrome pickers.
A number of chrome pickers have been injured and admitted to Kitwe Teaching Hospital (KTH) after being run over by Tipper trucks as they tried to jump on the moving trucks so that they pick up the chrome before it is offloaded to the four identified sites.
But speaking during the launch of the Black Mountain Community Empowerment Programme on Saturday in Kitwe, Mr. Kabuswe expressed his displeasure that some people are issuing negative comments over Black Mountain operations.
Mr. Kabuswe, the Chililabombwe Member of Parliament, said the New Dawn government meant well when deciding to empower citizens with a portion of the slag dump.
He said some people have embarked on a campaign to discredit the Black Mountain empowerment and are linking any negative event in Kitwe to the operations.
“This has never happened before but look at this President Hakainde Hichilema. We have just worked for a month at the Black Mountain and the little that we have gained we say can we share. In this vain I want to warn those that want to bring confusion and disturb that Programme at the Black Mountain. I want to tell you that this programme is going to succeed. As government we are determined. We know people keep inciting others. Balechitafye konse akachitika mu Kitwe ati tubepeshe Black Mountain pakuti Kabuswe akese chisala. Nshakesale,” Mr. Kabuswe said.
The government officially handed over 30 % of the Kitwe Mineral Slag Dump commonly known as Black Mountain to cooperatives owned by the local youth and women last February.
The Black Mountain located between Wusakile and Nkana West is owned by Nkana Alloy, who are the major shareholders with the Government having a minor stake.
President Hakainde Hichilema earlier in February announced the handover of the Black Mountain to a Consortium of cooperatives representing all the 10 districts of the Copperbelt province, the Women in mining group, and the Community hosting the black mountain.
Meanwhile, Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza said his office was committed to ensuring that money from the Black Mountain operations equitably benefit the Copperbelt community.
“My office is putting up measures to ensure that this programme is upscaled to all the districts of the Copperbelt to ensure equitable benefits of the Black Mountain resource to the Copperbelt community,” Mr. Mwanza said.
Black Mountain Consortium spokesperson Kangwa Kamando said operations at the mine site are benefiting more people.
Mr. Kamando, the United Party for National Development (UPND) Copperbelt Youth Chairman, said the consortium is determined to work for the Zambian people and ensure that every Zambian benefits from the Black Mountain.
“We are determined to work for the Zambian people and ensure that every Zambian benefits from the proceeds of the Black Mountain,” Mr. Kamando said.
Meanwhile, activist and healthy expert James Musonda has become the latest person to urge the government to immediately suspend operations at the black mountain after a death was recorded on Thursday.
Dr. Musonda says it is embarrassing that the black mountain empowerment has started recording deaths despite government assuring stakeholders that operations are safe.
Dr. Musonda has told Phoenix News that operations at the facility were rushed without adequate safety measures put in place and is suggesting that the black mountain be sold.
He warned that the new dawn administration will not bring sanity to the mining sector by refusing to heed to advice from numerous stakeholders to halt operations immediately.
He has also sen GOLD in cadres votes. Not a good sign from kitwe, We could be creating just a new team of JERABOS.
Of course you can’t stop because the new jerabos will be affected…. the ones from Upnd who have replaced the PF. The whole thing has become dangerous.. the roads are littered with spillage from these trucks which overspending and dangerously overtaking. Because you and your family are not endangered you can’t stop the operations. I’m sure the president is updated on what is happening here in Kitwe concerning this issue.
Hon Paul Kabuswe, we just removed PF for not listening. You are not listening. To you empower -ment is more important than safety. You would rather see fatalities at the expense of empowerment. What we are saying stop the operations, and come up with ways to protect the youths, and let the youths go under safety training before returning to work at black mountain. There is nothing so important as safety, hence empowerment can wait. No one is going to take to what has been given to the youths I hope Mr. Minister you understand what professionals are saying.
To tell the truth is very important. During the PF their wasn’t such chaos concerning the black mountain operations. One will quote that accident which occurred but shouldn’t forget that measures were put in and there we never saw such number of uncontrolled trucking. True the bias was in favor of the PF but order was there even when the bias tilts towards Upnd. Should we wait for more loss of lives before we review? Life is more important than money. After all money is there to promote better life.
THIS IS BECOMING POLITICAL
DO THEY MEET THE SAFETY STANDARDS FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY OR NOT !!
IF NOT SHUT IT DOWN
YOU CANNOT HAVE TWO SETS OF STANDARDS
Haha how people change once in power. Ecl my father is a very wise man. I now understand when he said hypocrites.
Happy Labour day..I have now fully recovered from engineer ngandu chicagos party so I will spend my day drinking.
Its early Morning here, and I am trying to understand what is the real issue here? Just a few months ago people were “crying” and begging the government to re-open the Black Mountain, and now they are calling for its closure? Who is responsible for the health of the employees, is NOT the Cooperatives or the formed Communities? I am sure the GRZ has provided health guidelines, arent those comunities/cooperatives not responsible for adhering to the health guidelines? What will be achieved by closing them? My assumption is that those Cooperatives or the formed Communities are small private companies, as such they should be held accountable for not ensuring that their personnel are adhering to health guides, and the heads of those communities should be arrested.
On the decision not to succumb to pressure to halt operations at the fabled Black Mountain, I totally agree with Chongo Kabuswe because doing that would take us backwards. I don’t agree with Kabuswe’s defiance not to address important issues as brought about by other stakeholders. I request Kabuswe to come without any escort and see for himself what’s on the ground. He’ll realize why it’s important to bring other stakeholders on board. It’s risky to drive on the Kalulushi road, and on others within the operations of those trucks. We need RATSA to teach those drivers tactics of defensive driving and to help control traffic. The chaos created on this route is counter-productive as it’s also an international route and transit freightliners are affected. There’s need to control dust…
. There’s need to control dust pollution, take care of occupational health and safety of all concerned and indeed address other outstanding matters. If Kabuswe and Matambo had addressed ownership issues old jerabos wouldn’t be saying what they’re now saying. The old jerabos have Court documents and have a share of that mountain. Why have they been sidelined? We don’t want Mafia wars caused by a lack of proper leadership. Please don’t respond to various stakeholders through the press, have an audience with them. The days of campaigns are long gone, you’re now in charge. Don’t see things in terms of PF vs UPND. We want you to do a perfect job, we aren’t your enemies. Heed our advice or else you’ll end up like PF
There’s need to control dust pollution, take care of occupational health and safety of all concerned and indeed address other outstanding matters. We don’t want Mafia wars caused by a lack of proper leadership. Please don’t respond to various stakeholders through the press, have an audience with them. The days of campaigns are long gone, you’re now in charge. Don’t see things in terms of PF vs UPND. We want you to do a perfect job, we aren’t your enemies. Heed our advice or else you’ll end up like PF
I request Kabuswe to come without any escort and see for himself what’s on the ground.#8 Ayatollah… currently I have suspended going to the farm through Kalulushi Road. I can’t cope with the confused state of traffic on this road. The police can’t control anything because just like in the PF era party functionaries are more powerful than the law.
This is another problem that UPND should have shut down at the start of their term but instead chose to inherit it like the Zambian Airlines flawed business model.
Its laughable that you expect a bunch of thugs, street vendors and Jerobos who have never adhered to rules to suddenly start obeying them…you expect a thug like PF General Chile 1 to change overnight…these are thugs they only understand one thing.
@Deja Vu: There were no such chaos during PF because you know the answer yourself,but to help others that werent there or didnt know,”The black mountain under PF, was completely a PF cadre territory”.You cudnt be found there were another party T-shirt or if you were not in any PF rankings,remember Sparks-where is he now? Gone back to Congo,& this one who jst got shot by a kama wife, Including Inno. All those were PF Jerabos who decided who shd collect what there. But now what we have is the other side of the coin.
Kabuswe listen what the people are saying before you have more blood on your hands. Mwaiche wandi walishiba ichibemba chitila ” ukwali nsoke takwafwile muntu”.
This Kabuswe………. awe sure . Are these the kind of ministers we want?
#12 Mutaware iwe cheekala you are not even in Zambia how do you understand what we are going through. Hope someone could have used a condom to prevent your kind from existence.
Where is Mines Safety Department? Does the sections of the Act And the subsequent regulations used to guide mines exclude mining at black mountain. I think UPND have no respect for our institutions. Zambiansrespect and strengthen institutions. Really, you do not need UPND.
#16 Garlic. How ironic that Kabuswe can close a legal mine but opts to allow the danger that even a lay man to continue operations. Hope he doesn’t own one of these trucks we are talking about
Hope the president will put political expediency aside and bring sanity to Kitwe.
Look at Deja Vu the Kopola in him has come out and he is using unplatable CB language.
A forward thinking Politican would have closed this and hid behind govt institutions like ZEMA and Kitwe City Council, UPND was thinking of political mileage but this is a time-bomb waiting to explode because all you are doing is empowering the thugs who will later turn against you when they become too powerful, they are not creating tangible employment, not paying tax…just buying posh cars and guns which thankfully are being turned against them.
@Deja Vu
i have also noticed how this people who don’t live in Zambia are experts on what’s on the ground. Some of them with several different accounts but the same tone.
Black (Mountain) lives matter. All lives matter, even for an 18 year old teen!
In mining operations, when there is a fatality all work activities halt until remedial measures are set, to avoid recurrences..
Where are the mines safety, human rights, occupational health officials? This chaotic Black is an area where most Kitwe cadres from bus stops, markets, streets and public toilets are lumped to survive hardships. Hon. Kabuswe can’t bear this task.
Nomba you want him to use tonga?
#18 Tarino Orange… tell your friend Mutaware that we all know how to insult. We just don’t want to do it. But when people like him try to get smart we become smarter.
Kabuswe will be held accountable….as I am writing one jarabo truck has ploughed into a Toyota Hilux. We await whether there are injuries and God forbid fatalities.
My understanding is that Department of Mines officers get tax payers money to ensure that operators of the mines appoint competent persons to run the mines and such competent persons adhere to requirements of the relevant laws ( Acts and its regulations). The Dept of Mines officers can if necessary seek assistance from the Zambia Police. The Minister who also gets tax payers money, among other things, make regulations for the better carrying out of the objects and purposes for the mining Act. The minister, in this respect is to table laws that help achieve the objectives of the Act and where necessary table amendment of the Acts. The Minister should understand politics of appeasement will not strengthen our institution ( Dept of Mines).
How many lives does the Zambian government want to lose for them to realise that the operations at Black mountain are dangerous?
Honestly where is the Safety of citizens? And in June every year you send an entourage on governement allownaces to Geneva to go and report accidents that were preventable, as if you are doing good to the nation. Please learn to listen. In 2000 Nchanga Open pits on a Sunday, lost 13 miners together with machinery cause managers could not listen and were focussed on production to please Anglo. 13 souls were burried alive in February that year. In Chambishi 43 tombs of workers who were working at a Chinese explosive manufacturing plant still remind us of lives lost on unsafe mining operations. It is a pity that some of those managers are now advising the…
Peter Sinkamba please advise the government on the Mine Safety and how best operations can be carried out at the black mountain. I know you were in that mining class at ZIT in 1985/6. Not that chaos I see. Is there a caring Mines Safety out there?