Maravi

Shortage of qualified mining engineers, geologists worries NFCA

Shortage of qualified mining engineers, geologists worries NFCA
By Zumani Katasefa, Mutuna Chanda and Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Wednesday July 16, 2008 [04:00]

NON-Ferrous Africa Mining (NFCA) Plc vice- general manager Gao Xiang has expressed worry over the acute shortage of qualified mining engineers and geologists in Zambia. Speaking when a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) delegation visited his company on Monday, Xiang said there was great need to train more personnel in the mining field to satisfy the demand for qualified workers in the industry.

Xiang said NFCA needed services of expatriates from China to work as civil engineers and geologists in shaft sinking because of the shortage of qualified personnel.
He said a few local engineers who were recruited left the company after gaining some experience.

Xiang said his company was consequently forced to train cleaners to work as helpers in the engineering section.

He said currently, the firm had 169 Chinese personnel mostly working in engineering and purchasing departments.

“We want to reduce the number of Chinese to 130 from 169. We have over 2,000 Zambian workers at this company,” he said.

Xiang also complained about the difficulties in obtaining work permits for Chinese nationals that wanted to work in Zambia as expatriates.

“We know better the kind of people we need. We cannot allow drug dealers. We are disturbed by the shortage of qualified personnel,” he said.

South Africa’s Limpopo Province legislature speaker Dr Tshenuwani Farisani in an interview said African countries needed to ensure skills development to sustain economies.

“Skills development is critical. Africans ... need relevant skills in manufacturing, mining and other economic sectors,” he said.

Dr Farisani also urged African countries to develop mutual economic relationships with countries from outside the continent.

“They must promote joint venture economies, we do not want a situation where only Africa contributes labour force to these ventures,” he said.

He added that Africa needed to move away from exploitative mindset of some foreign investors to a position where the locals benefited more from their natural resources.
And Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) communications advisor Sam Equamo told the CPA delegation that visited the mine that there was a shortage of specialised skills to service the mining industry in Zambia.

He said Zambia was not producing enough skilled employees to service the mining industry.

“There is big demand for technical mining skills in Zambia,” he said.
However, he said KCM was sponsoring its employees in university to meet the demand for technical mining skills.

Equamo also said KCM could not avoid using contractors for its work.
This was after Kantanshi PF member of parliament Yamfwa Mukanga wondered whether KCM was using contractors to run away from the responsibility of paying workers their pensions after retiring.

In response, Equamo said engaging contractors was an indirect way of providing employment as the company did not have all the skills.
According to Equamo, KCM currently employs 11,000 workers while the contractors it has engaged have 7,000 staff.

Equamo also said the total cost of extending the life of KCM’s operations through the Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP) in Chililabombwe would total over US $1 billion.

He tabulated the cost as being US$674 million for KDMP and US$372 million for the copper smelter at Nchanga mine in Chingola.
The copper smelter is expected to be operational between the last week of August and the first week of September this year.

Mukanga expressed happiness with KCM’s investment in infrastructure.
“What we are yet to see are the effects that the new smelter will have on the environment. We have been told before by other mining investors that the infrastructure they had invested in was friendly to the environment and yet the effects were the opposite,” said Mukanga.

Meanwhile, Equamo said KCM would contribute in excess of US$85 million in taxes to the Zambian treasury between 2007 and 2008 following the revision of the mining tax regime.

And in an interview later, Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s Benue State Egbole Edor said KCM should invest more in mitigating the effects of environmental degradation caused by its mining activities.

Edor said the effects of environmental degradation that KCM was partly responsible for could not be reversed.

He noted that mining activities took a heavy toll on the environment leading to climate change.

“I am concerned about the environmental degradation that is taking place. This cannot be reversed,” Edor said.

He also said the investment at KCM needed to improve the standards of living of Zambians.

“We need more people to benefit from the mines by employing more of them and just the mines making the lives of people comfortable,” said Edor.

And Mopani Copper Mines chief executive officer Emmanuel Mutati admitted that the company was not where it should be in terms of safety.

Responding to questions from members of the CPA delegation at the directors’ lodge in Mufulira, Mutati said about seven lives were lost last year and that efforts were being made to improve safety.

“We do lose people; we are not where we want to be in terms of safety. But there have been efforts; we have a dedicated department that specifically looks at safety,” he said.
Mutati also said Mopani strived to employ a surviving member or child of an employee that died in an accident so that such a person could continue supporting the family.

Labels: EDUCATION, ENGINEERS

posted by MrK @ 3:53 AM