‘ BEEF UP MINE SECURITY’
...`Deploy ZNS, Zambia Army to guard Kasense
GOVERNMENTmust deploy Zambia National Service and Zambia Army to tighten security at Kasenseli to stop illegal mining activities, the Small-Scale Miners Association of Zambia has said.
Association president Kunda Chani said it was prudent that the security was beefed up at the gold mining area in order to completely eradicate the illegal activities.
Mr Chani was concerned with the recent invasion of some villagers in the rich gold area, saying that such activities continued then the country would not benefit from the resource.
He said in an interview yesterday, gold had been identified as a strategic resource which can help revive the economy, therefore, there was need for stringent measures to protect it.
Early this month over 500 illegal miners had broken into the perimeter wire fence at Kasenseli and forced their way into the mining area at Kasenseli gold mine in Mwinilunga looting undisclosed quantities of alluvial gold.
The illegal miners were reported to have come from a camp in the nearby camp called Kabanda B Township in Mwinilunga district.
District commissioner Arnot Mapulanga confirmed that the illegal miners found it easy to gain entry into the mine area by simply unscrewing the joints in the wire fence.
But Mr Chani suggested for this not to occur in the near future, there was need to tighten the security at the gold area.
He said that ZNS and the army had proved their capability of enforcing security whenever they were directed to, therefore, it would be prudent that they were deployed in order to beef the security with police officers who were earlier deployed.
“What is happening there is not good for the country. If illegal activities continue like that then there is nothing we shall benefit as a country. For me I think deploying ZNS and army because there is already police officers there it will mean that there will be tight security and no such activities will take place,” Mr Chani said.