One miner has died in an underground accident at the Chinese owned Collum Coal Mine while two others are battling for their lives at Maamba Hospital in Sinazongwe district.

Sinazongwe District Administrative Officer Sokoluku Daka, Sinazongwe Member of Parliament Richwell Siamunene and
Nkanddabwe Ward Councilor Partson Mangunje confirmed the accident that happened on Tuesday 17th January at 13:30 hours.

An eye witness, Geshom Muchindu, a miner who was underground at the time of the accident disclosed that the accident occurred after blasting underground.

Mr. Muchindu alleged that before dust settled the Chinese supervisor ordered them to go and work in the tunnel where blasting had just been done.He said there was a rock fall on three of the miners and killed one on the spot
while the others were severely injured.

And one of the injured, Dought Mudenda also said the Chinese Supervisor only named as Ruin forced them to enter the tunnel where blasting was done and allegedly threatened them that he would deduct their working hours if they refused.

However, the Chinese supervisors at Shaft three where the accident happened refused to comment and claimed that they did not understand English.

Mr. Daka named the deceased as Gibson Siachivwenya aged 37 and the two injured person as Wispo Mayiya aged 36, and Dought Mudenda aged 23.

Meanwhile, Sinazongwe Member of Parliament Richwell Siamunene has condemned the incident and attributed it to poor safety measures that the company management have been using to conduct their underground mining activities.

Mr. Siamunene called on the Ministry of Mines to give the public the full details of the report pertaining to the operations of the mine where accidents have continued to occur.

And Nkanddabwe Ward Councilor Partson Mangunje said government should look into the safety of the mine to protect the lives of miners.

Mr. Mangunje said despite the Ministry of Mines officers inspecting all shafts at the mine the public has not been informed about the safety of the Chinese owned Collum Coal mine.

He alleged that management has no qualified personnel to handle the explosives used for blasting underground.

The body of the deceased miner is at Maamba Hospital Mortuary.

[Zanis]

THE National Union of Communication Workers (NUCW) and general workforce at Zamtel were made to believe that the telecommunication firm was fast headed for collapse and that employees would all lose their jobs, the Sebastian Zulu-Commission of Inquiry report says.

The report indicates that the decision to sell Zamtel was imposed on the union and the general workforce.

Former NUCW general Secretary, Clement Kasonde, had told the commission in his submission during the commission sittings that former Transport and Communications minister, Dora Siliya, threatened that no one was to frustrate the sale of Zamtel.

The union was not accorded an opportunity to sit on the committee that considered the sale of Zamtel contrary to the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Act number 11 of 2008.

Mr Kasonde had noted that the NUCW was not afforded an opportunity from pre qualification up to the final selections of the bidding process and did not sit on any of the privatisation committees as representatives of the workers.

“The sale of Zamtel was forced and imposed on the union, workers of Zamtel and the people of Zambia by the former MMD government,” he said in his submission contained in the report compiled by the commission of inquiry tasked to probe the sale of Zamtel to Lap Green Networks.

Mr Kasonde said former Zamtel Managing director, Mukela Muyunda and Ms Siliya created an impression that if Zamtel did not find a strategic equity partner, the company would collapse and the workers would lose what they had worked for.

Mr Kasonde said the MMD government through its agents did not act responsibly and never inspired hope other than inducing unreasonable fear in the minds of the workers.

Mr Kasonde who worked for Zamtel for 20 years, said he had difficulties to see what additional value the new Lap Green management had pumped into the company.

He said ever since the new management took control of management, it had only concentrated so much on the mobile side in the branding and marketing strategies.

“However, on the PSTN side, which has been the traditional demand product for Zamtel for a long time, LAP Green/Zamtel has completely failed despite being the only company with exclusive monopoly,” he said.

He said the performance of fixed line telecommunication facilities has become the worst ever and that this is typical of LAP Green as the story is the same in Uganda where the company also operates.

At another meeting with the workers in Ndola, Ms Siliya explained that Zamtel was a loss-making company and the only way to salvage it was “to go the Zanaco way by privatising it”.

Airtel Zambia has today launched the 3 G powered internet service which will enhance customers’ access to internet facilities at a faster speed.

Airtel has also reduced the bundle rates from K1,100 to K98 per Megabyte as well as increased the validity of the bundles from 30 to 90 days.

Company Managing Director Fayaz King says Airtel is committed to rolling out internet services to the Zambian people at a lower cost.

He said by December 2011, internet penetration in Zambia stood at 6.7 %, noting that the statistics of access to internet facilities in the country have continued to be low despite the country recording an increase in the number of subscribers having access to mobile phone services.

Mr. King says Airtel will continue investing in the services that will cater for the various needs of its clients.

And Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism director of communication Gilbert Maimbo said the third generation powered INTERNET facility will enable citizen have easy access to information.

Mr. Maimbo observed that the improved and affordable INTERNET services will enhance communication systems among the business community and improve efficiency of various institutions in the country.

Mr. Maimbo also commended Airtel for its continued investment into the country’s economy in monetary terms and skills development.

QFM

EMIRATES, one of the world’s leading airlines has confirmed that it will make its inaugural flight from Dubai to Lusaka’s Kenneth Kaunda (KK) International Airport on February 1, 2012.

Emirates sales executive for the Netherlands Mathieu Hastman said Emirates will fly to Lusaka five times a week on every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Mr Hastman disclosed this at the on-going Vakantiebeurs Tourism Fair in Utrecht, Netherlands, where Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) is one of the exhibitors.

“The inaugural flight will depart from Dubai on Wednesday February 1 and arrive at KK (formerly Lusaka International) Airport at14: 50hrs the same day,” he said.

This is contained in a statement issued by ZTB public relations and media manager Caristo Chitamfya, in Lusaka, yesterday that the flight will depart from Lusaka at 19:00 hours the same day via Harare, and arrive in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) the following morning at 07:00 hours.

Mr Hastman says the response from the business community and public is encouraging hence the launch of the maiden flight into Zambia.
Vakantiebeurs is the world’s biggest trade and consumer fair in terms of attendance with close to 140,000 visitors and annual-held in Holland’s fourth city Utrecht.
The Dutch market is one of the priority areas for the ZTB international marketing strategy and hence their presence. ZTB will also exhibit in Finland, Spain, Germany and the United States, among other countries.
Meanwhile, a Dutch Holiday Research Company has awarded two Zambian Safari Operators a certificate for excellence.

Track and Trail River Camp in South Luangwa National Park and Mukambi safari lodge in Kafue National Park scored 8.9 and 8.0, respectively, in a poll conducted by Zoover, a renowned on-line research company that is supplying destination information to people planning to travel to various destinations around the world.

The research evaluated comments from tourists who visited Zambia last year and focused on three key areas namely: location, price in relation to quality and child-friendliness.
The internationally acclaimed Tripadvisor.com has also given the two operators high ratings.

[Zambia Daily Mail]