Don’t undermine State, foreign investors told
By ROGERS KALERO FOREIGN investors should not resist Government policies, but should seek meaningful dialogue to resolve various issues affecting their areas of operations,' Ndola Mayor Amon Chisenga has said.
Mr Chisenga said the decision by Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) to resist government policy on cost reflective tariffs on electricity was a sign of being disrespectful.
The mayor was speaking yesterday at Protea Hotel in Ndola when he officially opened the Copperbelt Media Workshop organised by the Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC) under the theme “Advancement and Transformation: Enhancing Media Participation in Zambia's Sustainable Development Agenda.”
Mr Chisenga said: “We expect foreign investors to follow government policies, but we are disappointed that mining companies like MCM are resisting government policy on cost reflective tariffs on electricity,
“Let me echo the words from my colleague, the Luanshya Mayor Nathan Chanda that CEC and MCM should sit down and resolve this issue. We don't want job losses in the mining sector."
And officially opening the workshop, Mr Chisenga urged the media to continue highlighting the different development projects taking place in the localities and to remind the local authorities of those areas left behind so that they can use the information to serve the communities better.
Mr Chisenga said the Ndola City Council was committed to working with the media to ensure that development reached every individual.
He also urged the media to rely on organisations like the PMRC that provided and generated knowledge that the government and other stakeholders could reliably depend on to make sound policy decisions.
Mr Chisenga said, with the information that Think Tanks such as PMRC provided, policy makers could make better decisions while also encouraging public participation.
He noted that PMRC encouraged and facilitated public debates on social and economic policy issues critical to national development aimed at producing quality policy analysis and data relevant for stakeholders.