Vedanta tricks exposed
… firm owes other mining companies – Musukwa
Vowes other mining companies that have been providing services to them huge sums of money and no amount of sympathy seeking from such entities change anything, Mines Minister Richard Musukwa has disclosed.
VEDANTA owes other mining companies that have been providing services to them huge sums of money and no amount of sympathy seeking from such entities change anything, Mines Minister Richard Musukwa has disclosed.
Meanwhile, mining expert Edward Simukonda has advised government to engage local mining experts to run Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) as they have capacity to do so.
Mr Simukonda who is a former ZCCM-IH and KCM employee said local experts were competent of running the mining firm given the resources.
And speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, Mr. Musukwa said while the Vedanta was trying to hoodwink other companies into believing that Zambia was being unfair in the manner it was handling the KCM issue, it owed them huge sums of money.
He said the same companies Vedanta was trying to coerce into rebellion had been telling Government to act over the KCM issue because the company was not honest.
“We know that they want to drag genuine law-abiding mining houses into sympathising with them. What is toxic is that several mining companies here in Zambia are owed by Vedanta. KCM has not paid them for the services rendered including the supply of concentrates.
“We would be surprised if they supported them because most of them have
been telling us that we acted too late to save the situation at KCM. What we are preoccupied with is gaining the confidence back on KCM.
“This, we will do, by reassuring contractors and suppliers that the liquidator is committed to liquidate their indebtedness and they should just give u a little space of time to mobilize resources so that the company can continue operating smoothly and better than before,” Mr. Musukwa said.
He said even if Vedanta was trying to portray a picture that the problems at KCM started after the introduction of Sales Tax, the company was in default long before the pronouncement was made.
“It is a well-known even before new tax measures came into being that KCM lamentably failed to inject fresh capital in the operations of the mine. KCM and Vedanta must be magnanimous enough to acknowledge publicly that the Government provided dialogue as regard their operations which they have not honoured.
“Zambia remains a preferred investment destination with a track record of accommodating investors from all over the world.
We will protect and support law-abiding investors whose interest is to make a fair return on their investment while supporting the Zambian economy and the people of Zambia,” he said.
And Mr Simukonda said foreign investors had been robbing the nation for a long time and it was high time government considered local experts.
He said government should consider local experts instead of looking somewhere else for a foreign investor.
Foreign investors had robbed the country for long time, he said and that it was now time for government to engage locals who would enable the smooth operations of KCM. Mr Simukonda told the Daily Nation in an interview yesterday that the country had suffered in the hands of foreign investors hence the
n e ed to engage locals because they could not let the mine to become a shell.
The mining expert who is proprietor of Delad Mine, a Southern Province-based company said local experts would enable to recapitalise KCM which Vedanta Resources had failed. Mr Simukonda said local experts have had run KCM before and therefore it would not be possible to fail this time around. Mr Simukonda said “the country has experts like Sixtus Mulenga among others who have experience in the operations of KCM.
“This is the time for local experts to take over KCM now that Vedanta has failed.
“Some of us and Dr Sixtus Mulenga had worked at KCM before Vedanta Resources took over."What will make the local experts to fail to run the mines today if they managed that time. I think President Lungu and Minister of Mines consider this. The only government can assist experts is by helping with resources," Mr Simukonda said.
It would be saddening, Mr Simukonda said, to see government to continue engaging foreign investors who were only interested to enriching themselves as the expense of Zambians.
Mr Simukonda said local experts would guard the resource prudently and contribute to economic growth of the country.