It's shocking govt hasn't renegotiated mines agreements - Sikota
It's shocking govt hasn't renegotiated mines agreements - SikotaBy Chibaula Silwamba
Sunday September 30, 2007 [04:01]
IT is shocking that the government has not approached mine owners to renegotiate development agreements, United Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota has charged. Responding to questions from trainee journalists participating in the fourth training programme at The Post Newspapers' head office in Lusaka on Friday, Sikota said when he recently toured Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), he was shocked to hear that government had not approached KCM to re-negotiate the agreements as advised by parliamentarians.
"I am very disappointed with the rate at which government is re-negotiating. As you know, in Parliament as opposition members of parliament, we brought up the issue of the mineral royalties that have been negotiated in development agreements and we implored government that it must go back and renegotiate these agreements.
That they should get these mining companies to understand that the situation has changed and, even if it hadn't changed, it was rather unfair when you look at the world rate," Sikota said. "Government promised us that they would go and renegotiate on behalf of the Zambian people.
Now, five weeks ago, I was touring KCM and out of interest I asked them that 'how far have you gone with the re-negotiation with the government over mineral royalties and what is your position with regards to these negotiations which you are having?' I was shocked to hear them say, and that was top management of KCM not middle management, that 'government has not approached us yet'."
He expressed surprise that about three to four months after government had agreed in Parliament to renegotiate the development agreements, it had not done so.
"It seems they are not putting any kind of urgency to it. KCM can just say we have agreed on this or that but we will have lost six months of possible revenue because government is sitting on its hands," he said.
Sikota said the government did not understand the problems Zambians were going through hence its reluctance to renegotiate the development agreements.
"They don't seem to feel the pain of that mother who has to give birth in a hut because the nearest health centre is so far away. They don't feel the pain of that little girl child who has to travel 20 kilometres to go and draw water because there is no water nearby.
They don't feel the pain of that little boy or girl who walks 10 kilometres to a school only to go and sit on the floor because there is no table and chair," Sikota said. "They don't feel the pain of those people who die just because they can't lay a hand on a K40,000."
He said the government had to look at the renegotiation process as a matter of top priority and urgency.
"...and need to keep us informed on what is going on," demanded Sikota. "When they held those negotiations in secret, we ended up with a raw deal; we are now talking about 0.6 per cent royalties because they kept it as a secret.
"We are saying that let us know what is happening at every step so that if there is something wrong, we can quickly tell them that this is wrong, look at it from this view point."
Labels: DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS, KCM, SAKWIBA SIKOTA, ULP
posted by MrK @ 5:14 AM
1 Comments:
Government inaction has the stink of corruption about it.
If they have bought off government ministers, to cheat (literally) the people of Zambia out of revenue, they are not only thieves, they have compromised the sovereignty of the state of Zambia. They have subverted the right of the people of Zambia to be ruled by their elected representatives, and the right to have the vox populi expressed in government policy through those elected representatives.
It is time that those who are shielding the foreign mining companies, start to show they did not financially benefit from bribes paid to them.
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