Maravi

Chief seeks govt help over illegal mining activities

Chief seeks govt help over illegal mining activities
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Wednesday April 16, 2008 [04:00]

PARAMOUNT chief Chitimukulu is seeking the government’s intervention over a matter in which a named company is mining copper ore in an area where Bemba chiefs are buried. But mines deputy minister Maxwell Mwale has said it is highly unlikely that any company can start conducting mining activities in the chiefdom without the consent of the chief.

Speaking at his palace in Mungwi over the weekend, Paramount chief Chitimukulu complained that the company was mining in Nkula area in Chinsali, a sacred place where Bemba chiefs were buried.

He, however, did not disclose the name or specifications of the mining company.

“Now the problem is that we don’t know where these people came from or who authorised them to start doing those activities because as far as we are concerned, they did not even approach me because that is my area. So how do you have people starting to mine in an area without even paying a courtesy call on me? So I appeal to government to intervene in this matter,” he said.

And in a separate interview, Mwale said there was something wrong about the whole situation surrounding the mining activities in Paramount chief Chitimukulu’s area.
He, however, said the government was not aware of any company that was conducting mining activities in the area and stressed that it was unacceptable for any company to conduct mining activities in burial places.

“There is something amiss about the whole issue because there is no way a company can start conducting mining activities in that area without the consent of the paramount chief because that it his area. It is traditional land,” said Mwale.

Labels: CHIEF CHITIMUKULU, MINING

posted by MrK @ 4:25 AM