Maravi

Katumbi explains decision to restrict copper movement

Katumbi explains decision to restrict copper movement
By Webster Malido
Friday March 23, 2007 [02:00]

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC) Katanga Province governor, Moses Katumbi, has said that the decision to restrict the movement of copper concentrates was made in the interests of both his country and Zambia. In a telephone interview from Lubumbashi yesterday, Katumbi said some crooked people were stealing copper concentrates from both the DRC and Zambia and they were making false declarations at the border.

"People are stealing materials here. Can Zambia accept to export these stolen materials? So you see, I am protecting both countries. It's also to protect Zambian investors because we are brothers," he said. "People are not paying taxes. Zambia is losing. Congo is losing. “Trucks are crossing the borders illegally, with no papers."

Katumbi said his decision was also aimed at protecting people's lives as some of the materials being illegally moved from the DRC across the region were radioactive. He maintained that he would stick to his decision of March 6, 2007 to restrict the movement of unprocessed materials, especially copper, between the DRC and Zambia in the interests of the economies of both countries.

Katumbi said both Zambia and the DRC have been losing in terms of revenue as most of the transported materials entering the border point were under-declared. He said before he made the decision to restrict the movement of copper concentrates, the DRC was losing about US$450 million monthly due to false declarations at the border. Katumbi said he had a duty to build the economy of his country.

Katumbi said another problem he discovered was that some of the trucks were illegally transporting radioactive materials such as uranium. "I am protecting the people because they can't feel the problem today but after some years, people are going to get sick from diseases like skin cancer from the radioactive substances which are moving from the DRC to Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Tanzania," he said. "Unprocessed materials will not leave the Congo. I am going to make sure that they don't leave. I need to control these things in the interest of both Zambia and the Congo."

On Wednesday, some members of parliament raised concern over Katumbi's decision, saying it had led to a lot of trucks being marooned at Kasumbalesa border post. However, Katumbi said Zambia should not complain much because of the 500 trucks at the border, only 41 had Zambian registration numbers. He said the rest of the trucks were from other countries and he expected those countries to complain more than Zambia.

According to Katumbi's statement of March 6, 2007, dealers were reminded that pursuant to article 85 of the Mining Code and article 218 of its Regulations, export of unprocessed minerals (mineral scraps, malachite, etc) was forbidden, except with conditional authority from the Ministry of Mines. "It has been noted that besides the violation of the above provisions, the weight declared is below the real weight carried," Katumbi stated. "It is a fact that a false declaration is a breach of the law on the part of the exporter and loss on the part of the government. Besides, the under declared weight damages roads. "In the light of the foregoing and while waiting for the strengthening of control mechanisms by the services concerned, it has been decided to suspend export of the above mentioned minerals until further notice."

Labels: COPPER, Moses Katumbi, TRADE

posted by MrK @ 4:12 AM