Minerals sector should favour locals
GOVERNMENT should ensure that taxes and policies in the mineral sector benefit and favour local people, Foundation for Democratic Process executive director Mweenge Chimfwembe has said.
Mr Chimfwembe said the Government needed to formulate proper revenue sharing mechanisms in order for the mineral wealth to be effectively shared among the citizens.
Speaking during a workshop on the Strengthened Accountability Programme in Lusaka on Friday, he said there were gaps in the Constitution and the Minerals Act on the benefits and participation of citizens in the minerals development sector.
He said the citizens were the owners of the natural resources, adding that it was important that they directly benefited from these resources. He lamented that while investors came to conduct mining activities in the country, the citizens were left to face the environmental challenges of poor soil and polluted water.
“Revenue sharing mechanisms and citizens participation is cardinal in the extractive sector, especially because these minerals will deplete and the people will remain to face the environmental challenges,” he said.
He further said there was need for serious diversification in the minerals sector, adding that there were other minerals that could be explored to reduce the over dependence on Copper.
He noted that diversifying in the minerals sector would protect the economy from crushing once the Copper prices went down.
He said there was need for the Constitution to clearly state the benefits to the citizens in the minerals sector.
“We need the Constitution to be categorical in supporting the citizens and enable them have access to mineral wealth,” he said.
He explained that the country would only implement the Seventh National Development Plan and the vision 2030 when the citizens directly benefited from natural resources.