Maravi

Chinese at Maamba mine stay indoor

Chinese at Maamba mine stay indoor
By Edwin Mbulo, Mwala Kalaluka and Gift Chanda
Wed 08 Aug. 2012, 11:30 CAT

OVER 30 Chinese nationals working for Maamba Collum Coal mine in Sinazeze have decided to lock themselves up in the mine quarters for fear of being attacked by Zambians.

And several Zambian mine workers have deserted Sinazeze fearing they might be arrested following the killing of a Chinese national during a minimum wage protest.

In Lusaka, police yesterday stopped a minimum wage-related protest by workers of a Chinese firm contracted by the government to construct prefabricated quarters for ZAF officers in Lusaka's Twin Palm area.

In an interview, Nkandabbwe Ward Councilor Partson Mangunje said the barbaric killing of the Chinese national by protesting miners had caused a vicious circle of economic breakdown.

"It is not only the Zambians who are scared of going back for work, the Chinese are also afraid and are spending most of their times locked up in the quarters since the incident happened. I appeal to the government to send in a negotiator to talk to the two groups; the Zambians and Chinese so that we can bury what has happened and forge ahead," he said.

Mangunje however said there was need for the employers to be serious when engaging workers because most of the people employed in the mines were those that could neither neither read nor write.

"We now have a situation of people who can't read and understand the contracts and what happened was that they ended up acting on group influence. We need a minimum of a Grade Seven full certificate as a qualification for one to be employed in the mines," he said.

Mangunje appealed for more dialogue so that a similar situation could be avoided in future.

And a union representative Moddy Chigonke said the union had failed to meet the mine workers for them to resume work because most of their whereabouts were not known as they had deserted Sinazeze for fear of being arrested.

Meanwhile, a check by The Post at shaft one, two, and six found the place quiet as the mines were deserted and only security personnel were at the gate.
And a miner who sought anonymity said police arrested the mother and wife of a miner who was on the run, only identified as Cephas.

He said they were picked up at 11:00 hours, but when contacted for a comment, Southern Province deputy police commissioner Fred Mutondo said the only woman picked up was treated as a witness and had since been released.

He said he was not informed of any arrests that could have been made afterwards.
"We picked up a woman yesterday (Monday) after she was found with goods that were looted from the deceased Chinese's house and she confessed that her husband is the one who took the goods to the house. The man later handed himself to the police and is detained in Choma," he said.

Some residents have expressed disappointment with the mine management for not putting in place a sound human resources management policy.

And Lusaka Province police commissioner Solomon Jere said some anti-riot officers were sent to the site and the workers that were about to protest were told not to because they had not complied with
the law.

"They were advised the law must be followed. We have got a system of laws in place," said Jere. "If they want to do, maybe, a demonstration there is supposed to be a procedure to be followed. A
notification, that is what the law provides but they did not do that. They obliged and everything is back to normal."

Police sources told The Post that some of the Chinese that were at the site when the ill-fated protest was about to commence locked themselves for fear that the workers who were about 200 would harass them.

"The workers started protesting at around 07:30 hours and they were demanding for the minimum wage from the Chinese. The Chinese have a contract with the government to construct the ZAF quarters," the
source said.

The sources said since the workers work in shifts, those that were supposed to work the day shift were not working but that later some Chinese managers came to address them.

And the Southern Province police command says it will not rest until all the people behind the killing of a 50-year-old Chinese supervisor at
Sinazeze's Collum Coal Mine over a wage dispute are caught.

Southern Province deputy police commissioner Fred Mutondo said in an interview yesterday that the 12 suspects picked and charged in connection with Wu Shengzai would appear in a Choma court today.

Wu died instantly after an irate mob protesting over the recently revised minimum wage pushed a trolley that is used to carry coal from the pit into the tunnel where he attempted to hide.

Sources said the 12 suspects left Sinazongwe for Choma at around 12:00 hours yesterday afternoon but that the remnant Chinese work force at Collum Coal Mine had barricaded themselves from the locals.

"There are still about twelve suspects; eight miners and four local people," said Mutondo. "It investigation is still ongoing. We will not rest until all of them suspects are captured."

And the government has assured foreign investors in the country, including the Chinese community, that Zambia was a safe and secure investment haven for them.
Information and broadcasting minister Kennedy Sakeni stated in a press release yesterday that the government regrets Wu's death and he described the incident as unfortunate, uncalled for and uncharacteristic of Zambians' peaceful and hospitable nature.

"Government wishes to assure the Chinese community at Collum Coal Mine, and investors at large, that Zambia is safe and secure for themselves and their investment," Sakeni stated. "In this regard, the government will endeavour to provide a safe and secure environment within which all investors will operate by ensuring, among other interventions, that incidents of this nature do not recur."

Sakeni, who urged employers in the country to embrace dialogue in
resolving their differences, said the government was confident police
would carry out thorough investigations on the Collum incident to
ensure culprits are brought to book.

However, economic consultant Prof Oliver Saasa said in his comments over the Collum incident that Chinese investors may not be the only
ones threatened by Zambia's current investment climate.

In an interview yesterday, Prof Saasa, who regretted Wu's killing,
said the unfortunate incident should be a lesson to the country to
ensure a certain level of consultation prevails before certain
decisions are taken.

"The issue of the minimum wage is an important issue in a country
like Zambia where poverty levels are very high and salaries for those
low earners can actually be up scaled in light of the economic growth
posted in the last 10 years," Prof Saasa said.

He said the issues of the minimum wage should have been handled
carefully to prevent incidents like the one at Collum Coal Mine as
they dent the country's image and also impact on the country's
investment climate.

"Sometimes people reject something that is in their interest because
you failed to accommodate them at the level of making that decision,"
Prof Saasa said. "The Statutory Instrument just came and it was
quickly implemented. So you run into these problems."

Prof Saasa said the environment where foreigners come to invest matters.

"We need to take a leaf from what has happened at Collum coal mine
and do things right. We keep reminding people that the world out
there has a lot of opportunities and that it is not just Zambia where
people can take their money," said Prof Saasa.

"You should not allow a situation where workers take the law in their
hands especially if they are killing as a result of the
misinterpretation of poorly communicated decisions by the government."

Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Zhou Yuxian told The Post on Monday that
Chinese in the country were frightened following Wu's killing and they had
asked to meet him on the evening of that day so that they could be consoled.
Collum Coal Mine has had a number of operational problems.

Mine officials at Collum had blocked the then Southern Province minister Alice Simango from going to check the poor working conditions.

In October 2010, police charged two Chinese mine managers with attempted murder after they allegedly opened fire on a group of miners at the same mine.
At least 11 workers were injured in the incident at the mine.

The owners were reported to have felt threatened by the miners during a protest about their pay and conditions.

The case had brought an angry reaction in a country where Chinese businesses have invested heavily.

The miners had been protesting against poor working conditions at the Collum mine when the managers opened fire at random.

The cases against the duo were later dropped through a nolle prosequi.
China has invested more than $400m in Zambia's mining industry and Chinese investments in the country are continuing to grow.

But this has led to rising tensions in some areas and complaints that the government is prioritising Chinese investment over workers' rights.

Labels: LABOUR, MAAMBA COLLIERY, MINING

posted by MrK @ 3:08 PM