President Edgar
Lungu (right) chairs the Sixth Cabinet Meeting at State House in Lusaka yesterday. The meeting approved among other things the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to provide for a legal framework to strengthen transparency and accountability in the management of mineral resources, the Bill will provide for the mandatory disclosure of taxes and other payments including mining costs which extractive companies pay to the Government
CABINET has approved a Contingency plan, including its budget, in order to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
And, Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya says President Edgar Lungu has directed that the Council of Ministers sits to propose other measures that will help protect the lives of Zambians against the coronavirus. Ms Siliya said the contingency plan was an urgent instrument for action by all stakeholders if the country was to contain the spread of this deadly Covid-19. She said Cabinet was seriously concerned with the matter and felt it was necessary for Zambia to have the capacity to combat the spread of the virus. Ms Siliya said this was by instituting a multisectoral, coordinated and responsive action by government, cooperating partners, the private sector and society at large to protect the lives of Zambians in all the cities, towns and the rural areas. Ms Siliya, who is Information and Broadcasting services Minister, said the decisions were made yesterday when President Edgar Lungu called for the sixth Cabinet meeting to discuss policy matters aimed at improving the socio-economic environment of the country. She said while government was implementing the contingency plan, Cabinet had appealed to all the citizens to maintain maximum hygiene and avoid gatherings in public places such as markets, bus stations, churches and bars, as a way of supporting Government interventions. Ms Siliya has also called on Zambians to avoid panic as experts were working day and night while monitoring the situation. She said Government would continue to provide the updates as the situation unfolds, for everyone to be aware of what was happening on the ground with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zambia has so far recorded the first three confirmed cases of the COVID-19. Meanwhile, Ms Siliya said Cabinet hasd also approved in principle, the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to provide for a legal framework to strengthen transparency and accountability in the management of mineral resources in Zambia. She said among other things, the Bill will provide for the mandatory disclosure of taxes and other payments including mining costs which extractive companies pay to the Government and what the Government receives as revenue from extractive companies.And Ms Siliya said cabinet had also approved the National Transport Master Plan 2020 –2038 and the National Technical Education Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training -TEVET- Policy. During the meeting, Cabinet also approved the appointment of Non- Executive Board Members of the Veterinary Council of Zambia to effectively regulate the veterinary and veterinary para – professionals in the country.