Zambia today joined the rest of the world in commemorating the Labour Day which falls on the first day of May every year.

Today’s labour day celebrations at the Freedom Statue in Lusaka attracted various stakeholders who included government ministries and departments and several private and public companies.

The occasion which was graced by the Acting President George Kunda was also attended by members of the Cabinet Ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, defense force chiefs and labour movement officials.

The event was characterised by a colourful march past, displays and performances from various government ministries and departments, private owned companies, and educational institutions, among others.

This year’s theme is “economic recovery through respect for workers rights, good governance and job security.”

Speaking during the celebrations, President Rupiah Banda said the global financial crisis should not be used as an excuse to lay off workers and endanger job security in the country.

Mr. Banda warned that government will not tolerate the tendency by some employees in the country to lay off workers under the guise of the global economic down turn.

In a speech read on his behalf by Acting President George Kunda, said government will continue to focus on diversifying the economy form the current dependence on mining to agriculture, tourism manufacturing and service sectors in order to grow the economy and create more jobs.

Mr. Banda said government will also enhance infrastructure development in order to open up and improve accessibility to farming blocks, tourism sites and industrial parks in the multi facility economic zones.

President Banda further noted that economic recovery and diversification can only be realized if workers rights are respected adding that workers tights and job security are essential elements in ensuring high productivity.

Mr. Banda said the current financial melt down should not be taken as a pretext to weaken workers rights.

He said it should instead be used as an opportunity to reassess, respect and effectively implement the international labour organization declaration on fundamental principals and rights at work.

Mr. Banda said government is also concerned with the tendency by some employers to take advantage of the large labour supply in the country to disregard the relevant labour laws and abuse of workers rights.

He said government has further observed that some employers are engaging in practices that undermine efforts aimed at promoting job security.

And President Banda has disclosed that government is in the process of reviewing the technical education, vocational and entrepreneurship training policy.

He explained that the review will help make skills development more relevant to the changing needs.

Mr. Banda has since urged workers in the country to continue developing and improving skills to enhance productivity.

He noted that collective efforts towards high productivity can help grow the country’s economy adding that there is need to develop a culture of hard work and dedication to duty.

President Banda has also commended the labour movement and workers in the country for maintaining harmony in the past year despite the many challenges they encountered.

He said the labour leaders must be commended for providing honest and constructive leadership despite the pressure to protect their members from investors who would want to take advantage of the financial crisis.

Mr. Banda has also observed that the country’s financial sector has remained buoyant as compared to some countries which have experienced the collapse of some financial institutions resulting form the global financial crisis.

He attributed the position to the measures government has put in place to mitigate the impact of the economic down turn.

Mr. Banda said government has in this year’s budget focused on implementing measures to address job losses experienced and enable economic recovery in a short time.

Meanwhile President Banda advised mine operators whose operations are unprofitable to hand their mines over to government.

He said government is also currently working towards finding other investors to take over the operations of Luanshya Copper Mines which is currently under maintenance and care.

Mr. Banda said government is also considering the recommendation from the recently held indaba of putting in place a task force to review the operations of the entire mining industry.

The president has since reiterated his earlier call for the tripartite consultative labour council to actively participate in company closure issues and the laying off of workers.

And speaking earlier Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) President Leonard Hikaumba said it is unacceptable for mining companies to retrench workers as a cost serving measure after making profits from record high copper prices less that a year ago.

Mr. Hikaumba said called upon government to embark on law reforms to effectively address issues in the labour market.

He also urged government through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to step up labour inspection to ensure decency in work places.

And the ZCTU President has asked Zesco to consider increasing its clientele in rural areas as a measure to raise funds for its operations as opposed to increasing its earlier proposed tariffs.

Mr. Hikaunba said increasing electricity tariffs will further jeopardize job security among workers in the country.

And International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Representative Gerry Finnegan has called on government to ratify additional labour standards in the country.

ZANIS/CM/AM/ENDS

The Zambia National HIV/AIDS Network (ZNAN) has purchased food stuffs worth K67.6 million for 423 people living with HIV/AIDS in Chongwe district.

The foodstuffs will be distributed to the 423 beneficiaries through “Facing the Challenge”, which is a group of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Facing the Challenge Chairperson Peter Chibesa confirmed the development to ZANIS in Chongwe today.

The foodstuffs comprise 690 x 25kg bags of mealie-meal, 30 x 100kgs of beans, 69 bails of sugar and 1,725 litres of cooking oil.

He thanked ZNAN for the good gesture, saying the foodstuffs will help to alleviate hunger facing most of his members.

Mr. Chibesa explained that the majority of his members are lacking food because they did not grow enough food last farming season.

He said his members failed to procure farm inputs such as fertilizer to grow food for their survival because the commodity was expensive on the black market.

Mr. Chibesa added that the members did not benefit from the Fertilizer Support Programme because the district did not receive enough fertilizer under the programme.

ZANIS/MN/EML/ENDS

Chief Macha of the Tonga people in Choma district has advised the Livingstone City Council to employ workable approaches in tackling street vending in the tourist capital.

Chief Macha, who is the chairperson for the Choma joint monitoring team on sanitation committee, said street vending in Livingstone has gone out of hand because the city council has not been pragmatic in dealing with the situation.

He said effective legal enforcement that involves the state police, judiciary and the city council was the only effectively way to deal with street vending, which he said had become an eyesore in the tourist capital.

Chief Macha who is in Livingstone attending a UNICEF sponsored workshop on sanitation said the city council in the tourist capital should emulate the approach taken in Choma where street vending has become a thing of the past.

He said arrests and prosecutions was one effective way to reduce cases of vending because culprits would be sentenced to carry out community service by the courts of law.

The traditional leader said this would act as a deterrent to would be offenders.

Chief Macha further said traditional leaders were vehicles for development and must use their authority to champion the cause for good sanitation.

He noted that public health institutions will be greatly decongested if all people worked together to stop practices that cause poor sanitation and disease.

He said he has dedicated his leadership to addressing sanitation challenges not only for his own chiefdom but the entire Choma district.

Chief Macha said almost all households in his chiefdom have built pit latrines as a way of promoting good hygiene practices.

ZANIS/CM/KSH/ENDS

The Department of Sports Development in Southern Province has welcomed the reintroduction of Physical Education, (PE) as a compulsory and examinable subject in schools starting in the 2010 academic year.

Southern Province Sport Development Coordinator, Gibson Muyaule, said re-introduction of PE in schools would promote positive and lifelong healthy attitudes in young people, increase their attendance in school and improve academic performance.

Mr. Muyaule said PE and sport, through its various attributes, could help children establish and strive to achieve personal goals and reduce stress levels especially among children living in troubled homes.

He however, bemoaned the lack of and poor state of sports infrastructure in schools, which he said would hinder the successful implementation of the well intended programme in schools.

Mr. Muyaule said this in a statement made available to ZANIS in Livingstone today.

He has since urged local authorities to ensure they allocated additional pieces of land to schools for sports facilities, saying this would empower them to implement PE programmes effectively.

He further said it was the duty of the local authorities, as planners, to provide adequate recreational and sports programmes to the communities they served.

Mr. Muyaule also called on school authorities to lobby government for trained Physical Education teachers to teach PE only as a single subject.

ZANIS/AMM/KSH/ENDS