I won’t resign over Black Mountain – Mines Minister

MINES Minister Richard Musukwa has vowed not to resign over the accident which occurred at the mining slug dump, popularly known as the Black Mountain in Kitwe on Wednesday.

Mr Musukwa said he did not cause the accident, noting that the accident happened as a result of failure by the illegal scavengers at the site to comply with the conditions of grants of the licence.

He said the Ministry of Mines and Minerals had provided safety guidelines to Chapamo Mineral Processing Limited, to which Government transferred 10 percent shares of the Black Mountain.

He said he would instead ensure that the incident is avoided in future by making sure that people comply with the Mining and Minerals Act.

The minister however, noted that the accident was unfortunate and that it was avoidable.

Mr Musukwa was responding to a follow-up question by Mumbwa Member of Parliament Credo Nanjuwa after presenting a Ministerial Statement on the accident at the Black Mountain in Parliament yesterday.

Mr Nanjuwa wanted to find out if the minister would resign following calls for his resignation by a cross section of the Zambian people.

fiIf criminals and scavengers invaded the sight like they did, that is not a good cause for me to resign, I am not resigning, and I am going to ensure that this matter is never repeated by ensuring that people comply with the Mining and Minerals Act.

fiThis accident happened as a result of failure by the illegal scavengers at the site to respect the provisions of the law. In short they failed to comply with the process in terms of what was happening at the site.

fiThis is what caused this accident, and I want to further state, that in terms of the safety procedures and standards that was put at the site, they were consistent with the standards that is in terms of mining,fl Mr Musukwa said.

And the minister assured the House that strict measures have been put in place to ensure that there was no activity at the Black Mountain.

He said the dumpsite would be guarded by the security 24 hours to avoid a repeat of such incidents.

fiTo ensure that no one accesses the site, the ministry will work with the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide security. The area will be manned by police officers until the measures are put in place,fl Mr Musukwa said.

Ten people died on Wednesday while seven were injured after the Black Mountain collapsed on them.