'Growth rates have not resulted in real prosperity'
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Mon 15 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
NEWLY-formed Green Party president Peter Sinkamba says the good economic growth rates the country has recorded have not translated into national prosperity in real terms.
In a statement released yesterday, Sinkamba stated that the PF government had failed to come up with a comprehensive policy on critical development issues such as subsidies to turn around the situation for the poor majority.
Sinkamba stated that the country needed a leadership that would work towards promoting participatory democracy by way of increasing the voice and spaces for participation of the citizenry in social, political and economic issues.
He stated that the PF government must support legitimate efforts intended to create an open, transparent and merit-based constitution-making process, without regard to party affiliations.
"Unless we allow such a process to take place, achieving constitutional legitimacy, which is very vital for the constitution to stand the test of time, will be a mirage," Sinkamba stated.
Labels: GDP, NEOLIBERALISM, PETER SINKAMBA
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Mopani's acid mists attract investigations
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Wed 25 Jan. 2012, 13:40 CAT
CITIZENS for Better Environment (CBE) has sent a team of experts to Mufulira to ascertain the level of acid mists released by Mopani Copper Mines that are affecting people's health.
Over 3,200 residents of Butondo township in Mufulira on Wednesday last week resolved to sue Mopani Copper Mines over the acid mists the company has continued to release from its West Heap Leaching Mine.
CBE executive director Peter Sinkamba said of late, all stakeholders, including the government, have strongly emphasised the need for enhanced environmental management and protection of citizens from pollution.
Sinkamba said the company had come up with a proposed Kankoyo community-based environmental management project that would provide a platform for identifying and addressing environmental and public health liabilities.
He said the organisation wanted to measure key performance indicators that include the percentage of remaining priority environmental liabilities in Mufulira and identify sustainable remedies with meaningful community participation.
Sinkamba said there was need to enhance the capacity of key stakeholders involved in improving compliance with mining-related environmental management regulations.
"We have a report about the situation in Mufulira and we want to establish facts and if the company (Mopani) is following laid down procedures and mining regulations. We want to know the impact of the emissions being released. We will make our findings known once we establish the facts," Sinkamba.
And Butondo residents have appealed to the government to compel Mopani Copper Mines to stop their mining activity called heap leaching at its Mufulira West Mine.
Community spokesperson Agnes Nkonde said the only options were the company changing the type of mining or to relocating Butondo township by constructing houses elsewhere.
"We will take Mopani Copper Mines to court because we have been affected a lot and we know our lives are in danger. We have been exposed to lot of chemicals and our people are dying, some people can't see properly and our children cough every day," Nkonde said.
"We don't know if we will wake up tomorrow because these chemicals are just too strong and we can't even sleep at night."
Labels: CBE, MOPANI, PETER SINKAMBA
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‘Rupiah wants to capitalise on hardships MMD created’
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Sun 29 May 2011, 20:20 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda wants to capitalise on the hardships his MMD deliberately created on the people to gain popularity, says Peter Sinkamba. In an interview, Sinkamba, who is Copperbelt Pact Forum chairperson said President Banda was insulting the intelligence of Zambians by claiming that he had performed wonders since he took over as head of state.
He said President Banda had no moral right to tell Copperbelt residents in his recent visit that the MMD government had delivered meaningful development.
Sinkamba said it had become apparent to many Zambians that the MMD had failed the nation, particularly Copperbelt residents whose general living standard had continued to deteriorate due to ineffectiveness of people holding power.
He said President Banda’s government could not be trusted on promises such as K1 trillion rehabilitation programme of urban roads on the Copperbelt because it was full of political rhetoric.
Sinkamba said politics of appeasement and last-minute developmental projects would not deter people from making the much-needed change of government.
“This country is ranked 150 out of the 165 least developed countries on the human development index. If Rupiah Banda has performed wonders, why are the people poor? Go at the highest learning institutions and see how students are overcrowded in hostels.
Visit hospitals and look at the poor service health delivery and you will realise that the President is lying,” Sinkamba said.
He said Zambia would only become a progressive country if the corrupt MMD is voted out of government.
Sinkamba said the problem with President Banda’s government was that it had failed to stand by policies and laws that were initially put in place to foster development and good governance.
“We need to get rid of the MMD if our country is to see meaningful development. You cannot have a government that does the exact opposite of what the people want.
We cannot get excited about the urban road rehabilitation programme because it is long overdue and if we were getting our own share from mineral royalties, we would have been maintaining roads,” Sinkamba said.
“President Banda wants to capitalise on the hardships his MMD deliberately created on the people to gain popularity but it will not help him.”
Labels: MMD, NEOLIBERALISM, PETER SINKAMBA, RUPIAH BANDA
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Pact Forum urges LAZ to seek court interpretation of PVT
By Misheck Wangwe
Tue 29 Mar. 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE Copperbelt Pact Forum has urged LAZ to commence judicial review over Parallel Vote Tabulation since ECZ has insisted that it will not tolerate the system in this year’s general elections.
Commenting on the insistence by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) that it will not allow PVT despite the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) indicating that the system was not illegal, Forum chairperson Peter Sinkamba said the stalemate would only be brought to finality through judicial review.
Sinkamba said LAZ should see to it that the issue of PVT was brought to logical conclusion in the interest of the public.
He said it was illogical for the ECZ and the government to insist that PVT was illegal when LAZ had indicated that there was nothing wrong with the exercise.
“Considering that there is now a stalemate. The President, his ministers and ECZ insist that the tabulation system is illegal while LAZ and other well-meaning stakeholders find no illegality in the system. This stalemate will only be brought to finality through a judicial review. We therefore call upon LAZ to commence judicial review proceedings in the public’s interest,” he said.
Sinkamba said it would be unfair on the part of stakeholders and well-meaning Zambians if the ECZ and the government refused to allow PVT because there was no contention on the fact that computation and tabulation of elections results was a statutory mandate of ECZ.
Labels: ECZ, PETER SINKAMBA, VOTERIGGING
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COMMENT - Excellent.
ZCSMBA urges mindset change on SMEs
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Wed 15 Dec. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THERE is need to change the mindset of people running Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for them to contribute to wealth creation. This is according to Zambia Chamber of Small Medium Business Associations (ZCSMBA) Copperbelt association representative Michael Sinkamba.
During a workshop on access to markets and finance training of entrepreneurs hosted by the Kitwe District Business Association, an affiliate of ZCSMBA and the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), Sinkamba said SMEs’ quest for expansion was constrained by finances.
“Many financial institutions including banks claim that SMEs do not send adequate documents whenever they apply for credit ands to address this challenge we have partnered with ZDA and other institutions so that we explain how things should be done because skills training is important in every sphere of development,” said Sinkamba on Monday.
“This workshop will unlock the SMEs by changing their mindset so that they grow their businesses to result in wealth creation as well as contributing towards attaining economic development and the vision 2030 of becoming a middle income country.”
The training workshop which ends on Friday has drawn various entrepreneurs in the region and participants are expected to acquire knowledge on book keeping, preparing a business plan, sourcing business from corporate entities and taxation registration requirements.
Labels: PETER SINKAMBA, SMEs, WORKSHOPS, ZCSMBA
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MUZ calls for assessment of mines on Copperbelt
Written by Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Monday, January 26, 2009 5:22:53 AM
MINEWORKERS Union of Zambia (MUZ) president Rayford Mbulu has called for the establishment of a team of experts to carry out studies to establish whether the mining companies are running at a loss.
And Citizens For Better Environment (CBE) executive director Peter Sinkamba has said President Rupiah Banda's government lacks confidence in solving the problems that have rocked the country's mining sector.
But labour minister, Austin Liato, said it was not right to start blaming each other in the midst of the problems that have hit the mining sector.
During the newsmakers forum organised by the Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of The Post Newspaper to discuss job losses in the mining sector at Kitwe Little Theatre on Saturday, Mbulu said the government should seriously look at the problems facing the mining sector on the Copperbelt Province.
Mbulu proposed that the government should set up a team of experts that would look at the mines following the recent closures and also establish the liabilities and assets in these companies.
"At a point when one steps out, government must step in to end asset stripping in the mines. Not too long ago miners in Luanshya went into destitution. There would be a lot of crime if nothing urgent is done to ensure that the Luanshya Copper Mine starts operations," he said.
Mbulu said about 700 jobs risked being cut at Mopani Copper Mine (MCM) in Mufulira.
"The future for Mopani is not bright if the worst goes to the worst. Mopani would pull out from Mufulira and 700 jobs would be lost," he said.
Mbulu also said the banks in Lunshya had held on to the benefits of some miners who owed the financial institutions in terms of loans.
He said some miners in Luanshya got as little as K2 million as their terminal benefits and that this money had been held in the banks.
"Banks have held on to the miners’ benefits. Microfin is recovering everything, and Bayport is only recovering the principle amount," he said. "A lot of miners even failed to go home because their money was held in the banks. In Chambishi it is just the same. People walked away with nothing."
Mbulu added that it was unfortunate that Baluba Mine was left with 25 people to manage the care and maintenance programme.
"The concentrator was left with no human being, and it was the concentrator that flooded. The whole mine may flood," Mbulu said.
And Sinkamba said if the government had confidence it could have utilised about K1 billion from the money in its reserves to bail out some mining companies in the country such as Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM), which has since closed.
"If it is true that the K1.3 billion is still in the reserve we can easily recapitalise the Luanshya mine," Sinkamba said.
He said the country had enough financial and human resource that could be used to keep the mines afloat.
"The idea of waiting for foreigners to come and invest in our mines should come out of our minds," he said.
Sinkamba said the problems that had hit the mines on the Copperbelt Province needed urgent intervention from the government.
He also disclosed that the investors in the non-operational LCM, who have since pulled out, owed the government US$20 million in environmental liabilities.
"Job and care maintenance is nothing. Government should have secured the US$20 million as environmental liabilities. We do not seem to implement such laws. It will be an insult to learn that these people have disappeared and we do not know how much money has been secured to address the environmental liabilities," he said.
Sinkamba revealed that various mining companies operating in Zambia owed government about US$200 million in environmental liabilities and that it was difficult to understand how government would recover this money.
"During privatisation of the mines, these investors refused to take on board environmental liabilities so government inherited these liabilities," Sinkamba said.
But Liato said this was not time to apportion blame on one another in view of the crisis in the mines.
He said people should understand that the problems that had hit the mining sector were a result of the world economic recession.
Liato said everyone should be engaged in trying to find a solution to the problems that had rocked the country's mining sector.
"This is like an economic tsunami. The answer to this problem would not only come from government alone," he said.
Liato said the government would accept any investor who would express interest in investing in the mining sector as long as they met the requirements.
He said it was sad that some people were condemning the Chinese investors in Zambia and yet they had not effected any job cuts in their companies following the world economic crunch.
"In Chambishi, the Chinese would be employing about 1,000 people this January," he said.
Liato said the government would not tolerate any arrogance from investors because they were expected to respect the local workforce.
He also disclosed that this year the government would step up labour inspections to find out how many positions were held by expatriates in various companies.
Liato said the closure of the Nkana smelter by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) was not as a result of the global financial crisis.
Liato also urged employers not to take advantage of the global credit crunch to lay off workers in the country.
Mines minister Maxwell Mwale last week disclosed to Parliament that 3,072 jobs had been lost in the country's mining sector on the Copperbelt Province.
Labels: CBE, MINING, MUZ, PETER SINKAMBA, RAYFORD MBULU
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