SOME MISSING STREET KIDS ON THE COPPERBELT MAY HAVE DIED IN ILLEGAL MINING ACCIDENTS
By Michael Kaluba
Beautiful Gates Foundation Executive Director Bill Kapinga says some street children in copperbelt towns are still missing and may have been victims of illicit mining accidents at Chingola’s Senseli Mine.
Senseli currently has an unresolved fatal accident issue from last year, in which over 40 persons were believed to be trapped underneath, majority of whom have not been retrieved since.
Mr. Kapinga tells Phoenix News that some street kids abused by illegal miners, also known as jerabohs, are unaccounted for, particularly because there were no ledgers or lists of individuals who entered the dangerous pits at Senseli.
He has urged relevant authorities to take keen interest in the matter, and for the police to be firm and uncompromising against illicit mining activities.
He adds that despite illicit mining being a legacy issue, it is the current government’s responsibility to put an end to it amidst mounting calls by some Jerabohs for Senseli to be reopened.
PHOENIX NEWS
“The police to be firm” is laughable, depicting your shallow understanding of who actually complicate the whole issue.