PEOPLE ON THE COPPERBELT ARE GOING THROUGH UNSPEAKABLE MISERY – MUNDUBILE
…says govt will not invest in mines to push a narrative that Zambians can’t run them.
Lusaka…. Friday December 9, 2022 (Smart Eagles)
The opposition Patriotic Front has bemoaned the declining fortunes in the mining sector on the Copperbelt.
This follows government’s position that investing in Mopani, a mining giant which needs $300 million is not a priority.
Addressing the media today in the company of other lawmakers, Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Hon Brian Mundubile charged that government will do anything to ensure that they don’t invest in mines to push a narrative that Zambians can’t run mines.
Hon Mundubile said an investment of $300 million into the mining giant would transform the lives of the people on the Copperbelt.
“The casing point is Mopani which requires the investment of $300 million. With that investment, jobs will be saved, contractors on the Copperbelt will have works on the mines. You would love to know that the economy on the Copperbelt is a cash economy, you have to have the money. The source of that money is actually the mines,” he said.
He lamented that people on the Copperbelt are going through unspeakable misery.
“Government said investing in Mopani is not priority. This is very shocking to us because we know that investing $3 million in Mopani was going to resolve a number of issues on the Copperbelt.”
Meanwhile, Mundubile challenged government to tell citizens what alternative measures they have if the said investment is not priority.
“If investing in Mopani is not priority, certainly, elevating the challenges people are facing on the Copper belt is Priority to government. So if government has other means of resolving the declining economic fortunes on the Copperbelt, let them inform the people on the Copperbelt and the nation what those measures will be,” he said.
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