MINES SLAVE WAGES SLAMMED
If a mining company engages a contractor and that contractor is paying its workers less than K3,000, it means they will not pay tax and if they don’t pay tax, it means no tax to the government.
— Mr Chewe.
The role that the mining sector plays in national development cannot be over emphasized. The Coppertbelt Province, with its related mining activities , has played a significant role in creating the national wealth that we all celebrate today.
SLAVE wages below the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) threshold are being paid to Zambians by some mining companies in a cynical effort to elude paying tax, Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) President Joseph Chewe has said.
Mr Chewe said most mining companies were engaging contractors who were paying their workers ‘slave’ salaries instead of engaging workers on permanent basis and paying them decent salaries
The MUZ President was speaking in Kitwe at the weekend during a public discussion on ‘Mining and Economic Growth: Challenges and opportunities.’
The public discussion was held under the auspices of the Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ).
"If a mining company engages a contractor and that contractor is paying its workers less than K3,000, it means they will not pay tax and if they don't pay tax, it means no tax to the government.
"This is why we are saying most of these mining companies are running away from the responsibility of paying tax by engaging contractors who are paying their workers below the PAYE,'' Mr Chewe said.
Mr Chewe said there was need for government to seriously scrutinize and regulate the mining firms and ensure that the country and Zambians in general benefit from the mining activities.
He said the mining sector had been invaded by contractors who had proved to be a cancer because job opportunities in the mining industry had dropped from 55,000 in direct jobs to below 30,000.
"As union, we are worried that contractors have become a cancer in the mining industry where people find themselves with no job security at all,'' he said.
Speaking earlier, Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Bright Nundwe said Government would continue to support progressive associations such as the Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) through active participation in the policy dialogue.
The Government, he said, would a conducive environment for dissenting views on national development.
Mr Nundwe urged the associations present at the public discussion to continue being non-partisan in their advocacy so that they could continue providing checks and balances.
"The role that the mining sector plays in national development cannot be over emphasized. The Coppertbelt Province, with its related mining activities , has played a significant role in creating the national wealth that we all celebrate today.
"But more still needs to be done. Today's topic therefore should mark the beginning of more and better strategies to ensure that the mining sector contribution to the national economic development is not only increase, but also inclusive,'' Mr Nundwe said.