LUNGU’S PARLEY SPEECH INSPIRES EMERALD MINERS
By MAILESI BANDA THE Emeralds Association of Zambia (EAZ) has commended President Edgar Lungu's speech to parliament especially on the mining sector.
EAZ president Victor Kalesha expressed gratitude that President Lungu has taken interest in the gemstone mining industry.
He appealed to the President to however meet emerald smallscale miners and learn the challenges the sector is facing. He said the emeralds mining sector was stagnant.
"The emerald sector is one such sector that can contribute effectively to the economy of this country if only it is supported positively. There are certain mechanisms and decisions that can only be made by the Head of State to advance the progress of development of the gemstone sector," Mr Kalesha said.
Mr Kalesha lamented that efforts to talk to the President in the past had been blocked, adding that they were suspected of having cartels and being unpatriotic.
He pleaded with President Lungu to intervene and create interest in meeting the emerald miners personally so that he has an understanding of what prevailed in the emerald industry.
"When we talk about the monitoring mechanisms on the production of gemstone, we are only talking about three mines out of the 600 licences namely Kagem, Gemcanton and Tubombeshe who are in production now.
“Our appeal is that the government puts up measures to support the sector, including the restructuring of the Ministry of Mines so that it becomes more effective and productive," Mr Kalesha said.
He lamented that Zambia could not afford to have people that were serving their own interests in national matters.
He explained that the Ministry of Mines didnot act positively on the needs and challenges of smallscale miners. "The geological exploration for the country is very critical and we have remedies that we are confident as an association the President can act on and implement.
We want to draw the attention of the President that we are a non partisan association and we are behind him to help him develop this country during his tenure," Mr Kalesha said.
He appealed to the President to stop the Ministry of Mines from grabbing licences from mine owners who had spent money to run the mines and benefit foreigners. He explained that it was worth noting that some Zambians had sold their properties, including houses, to try and develop their mines and yet they had not succeeded and the ministry wanted to grab such mines without considering the massive cost that had gone into such operations.