Kalulushi pollution alert

KALULUSHI residents are at the risk of consuming contaminated food as some people are selling fish and vegetables from the heavily- polluted Luela stream.

As a precaution, the Kalulushi Municipal Council has advised residents only to buy their vegetables and fish from credible sources.

This was after the collapse of the tailing dam at Rongxing Investments Limited near Sabina area along Mufulira road, resulting in the contents flowing into the Luela stream.

As a result, water got polluted, ultimately killing the fish in the stream, which some unscrupulous people were collecting and selling to unsuspecting residents and transiting motorists.

The local authority has advised people growing vegetables near Luela stream to desist from watering the plants using the water from the stream as this could pose serious health risk once the products were consumed.

Director of Public Health, Susiku Mwakoi, said Rongxing had been tasked to sensitise the public not to consume vegetables and fish from around the area.

“Following the failure of the tailings dam on October, 15, 2020, Council Health Inspectors, Water Resources Management Authority, Zambia Environmental Management Authroity and

Mine Safety Department visited the site,” he said.

Mr Mwakoi said water samples were collected from the stream and submitted to the laboratory for analysis to determine the contamination levels.

He said the results were expected to be ready during the course of this week.

He added that Rongxing Investments Limited which was issued a notice to halt operations could only resume operations upon reconstruction of the tailings dam to the required standard.

Mr Mwakoi emphasized that residents and other people must always be sure of the source of the vegetables and fish to avoid consuming contaminated food.