By Tovin Ngombe

Maamba Collieries Retrenches Steering Committee (MCL-RSC) has appealed to government to promptly pay their money to save them from destitution.
The MCL-RSC Secretary Maunda Misebezi bemoaned that it was ‘pathetic’ and hectic that government has taken so long to pay them their retrenchment packages since 1998.

Mr. Misebezi explained that when they were retrenched from Maamba Collieries there was an agreement that government would pay them their money adding that immediately they were flown to them they became destitute.

“Government should show some human face. I agree we are poor and but I can not accept that they have failed to raise funds that is deliberate,” Mr. Misebezi said.

Maamba Collieries retrenched 332 workers in 1998 and 1999 among them 127 have died and four were suicide cases said Mr. Misebezi.

“Government should be realistic after all it is our father and why should it abandon us like this we have gone through rough time, through hell and God should just burn us first,” the Secretary said.
The Secretary noted that although he was retrenched the Maamba mine was in shambles as every department has been paralysed.

Mr. Misebezi has urged his colleagues to be calm as they would meet Finance Minister
Ngandu Magande on Monday to discuss the matter.

He said government has only paid them 16 billion Kwacha since they were retrenched.
Mr Misebezi noted that the money looks to be enough on paper but the mode of payment has been bad owing to high number people to be paid.

Maamba Mine Manager Coin Siakachoma has also made a passionate appeal to government to look into the issue of retrenches and retirees.

China’s pledge to pour US$800 million into Zambia over the next three years has been given a frosty reception on the ground, as many locals believe the investment will hold little benefit for the people, two-thirds of whom live on one dollar or less a day.

Chinese president Hu Jintao made the multi-million dollar announcement on Sunday, when he also wrote off $11 million worth of debt, promised to build schools, and provide agricultural training and loans for road-construction equipment. A trip to Copperbelt Province to lay the foundation stone for a national stadium was cancelled at the last minute, apparently over fears that he would be embarrassed by a protest over poor working conditions planned by mine workers.

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Step 1.

Apply to the F.W.M.P (Foreign Workforce Management Program) based in Pretoria. (They allegedly do not support employment of doctors from developing countries.)

You will be asked provide the following

• Covering letter giving details of your reasons for migrating from your country of origin.
• Copy of all pages of your passport
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Their address is Private bag x828, Pretoria 0001. Telephone – 012-312-0467 / 0498 / 0722 / 0725.

Step 2.

Apply to the H.P.C.S.A ( Health Professions Council of South Africa)

Requirements:

• Notarised copy of degree certificate
• Proof of internship training ( fill in form 10 )
• Verification of credentials by the ECFMG
• Certificate of good standing
• Proof of citizenship
• Letter of employability issued by FWMP
• Examination fee
• Registration fee
• Form 12

To obtain relevant forms and more detailed information contact the H.P.S.C.A. Their homepage is www.hpcsa.co.za

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Chinese President Hu Jintao capped a two-day visit to  Zambia by inaugurating a massive mining investment partnership that has been heralded as a model for Beijing’s growing business interests in Africa. Hu, who arrived in Zambia on Saturday, was traveling Monday to Namibia — his fifth stop on an eight-nation African tour intended to boost Chinese investment in the impoverished continent.

The Government has barred the main opposition party from attending ceremonies marking the visit of Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, because of its anti-China stance.

Zambia has witnessed some of Africa’s most public expressions of unease over China’s growing power, most notably when workers at a Chinese-owned mine rioted over pay.

Vernon Mwaanga, the chief government spokesman, told reporters from state media that the Patriotic Front was the only opposition party not invited to meetings between Hu and Levy Mwanawasa, the Zambian president.

The Patriotic Front has accused the government of selling out to Beijing.

“We have invited opposition party leaders to attend public functions like the state banquet for the Chinese president,” Mwaanga said.

“But … we have not invited any leader of the Patriotic Front because they do not recognise the Chinese people.”

Bilateral ties

Hu, who arrived on Saturday, faces a delicate task in copper-rich Zambia because of widespread local feeling that China is attempting to dominate and ‘colonise’ the local economy.

Zambian officials however said Hu’s visit will spur trade and foreign investment and make Zambia a hub for China’s economic expansion on the world’s poorest continent.

Ng’andu Magande, the finance minister, said that Zambia aimed to strengthen its bilateral ties with China in order to learn from the Asian country’s success in boosting its once-moribund economy.

“The most important thing for us is that China is the fastest growing economy and we are also growing. These relations will help us to find winning ways because China was an [economic] underdog just a few years ago, but they are now performing well,” Magande said.

China did not respond to the opposition’s claims.

“I’m sure that this visit will serve to take China-Zambia relations to a higher level,” Hu said in a statement.
‘Colonise Africa’

Hu and Mwanawasa were due to hold private talks later on Saturday and will then issue a joint communique.

The government has said journalists would not be allowed to ask questions during a joint news conference by Hu and Mwanawasa on Sunday after the two leaders sign trade and economic co-operation agreements.

The Patriotic Front, which narrowly lost elections last year after running on an openly anti-China platform, criticised Hu’s visit.

Guy Scott, Patriotic Front general secretary, said: “They are out to colonise Africa economically and also to get Africa’s solidarity at the United Nations.”

Hu’s trip to Zambia dropped a planned stop in the Copperbelt region, apparently out of fears he might be targeted by protesting families of workers who died in a 2005 explosion at a Chinese-owned mine.

Chinese President Hu Jintao faces a delicate task this week when he visits copper-rich Zambia, where anti-Chinese sentiment is riding high amid fears Beijing is moving to colonise the local economy. Zambian officials say Hu’s visit, which begins tomorrow, will spur trade and foreign investment.