PETROLEUM ACT IS WELCOME

THE proposed Petroleum Act announced by Minister of Mines and Mineral Development Richard Musukwa is an initial sign that Government is serious about protecting the country’s resources.

It is meant to regulate and oversee petroleum explorations to ensure that there is sanity in exploiting the newly discovered “black gold.”

Government is right to ensure that from the start, the exploitation of the newly discovered oil in Gwembe is guided by a legal framework so that illegal prospectors are kept out.

Zambia has a poor record when it comes to protecting her vast mineral resources which have ended up benefitting foreigners at the expense of the local population.

While foreigners have gone away with the riches, the locals have remained in abject poverty because the government did not take a keen interest in exploiting the mineral resources.

This is one reason why in Lufwanyama for example, the local villagers do not even have piped water yet their area is blessed with emeralds – reputed to be among the best grades in the world.

West Africans, particularly from Mali and Senegal invaded the Copperbelt in the 70s and 80s digging for the emeralds and made a fortune.

Fortunately, it appears the government has learnt some lessons from this sad experience because it is now in the forefront to ensure that the discoveries being made benefit Zambians first. That is how it should be. Government has for example taken charge of the gold mining sites in the North-Western Province by having the State security stationed there to protect them from illegal miners who invaded the area.

The same has been reported in other places like Lundazi where Tanzanians and Mozambicans have invaded the district and are mining the precious mineral illegally.

The promising discovery in Gwembe could be a game changer in the country’s development programme which is why everyone is excited and anxious that the government must be seen to be in charge from the beginning.

Call it divine intervention or whatever, Zambia must indeed be a blessed nation that in the midst of hopelessness, two of some of the most valuable commodities in the world - gold and oil - have been discovered.

We recall that Energy Institute of Zambia president Johnstone Chikwanda has advised Government to secure the oil discovery by setting up a special commission that would quickly carry out explorations.

This is so because the discovered oil presence is not something that can be done using simple tools as in gold mining.

Explaining the Petroleum Act, Mr Musukwa said “We want to come up with this act so that we don’t have confusion in the exploration of the oil like in other jurisdictions.

The primary purpose of oil is not to bring conflict but to benefit our local people, especially the host communities,” he said.

Yes, as climate change expert Isaiah Banda says, what the country needs is strong political will and strong policies that ensure Zambia comes first.”

Mr Banda noted that though Zambia was rich in natural resources, this wealth should translate into tangible benefits for the citizenry.

That is why it is important that the Petroleum Act clearly spells out what role the private sector must play – not forgetting that in the driving seat must be Government.

And the major beneficiaries must first and foremost be the people of Gwembe whose lives must be transformed.