‘RESOLVE ZESCO, CEC IMPASSE’

Our appeal to the two is that they sit down and negotiate so that things can come back to normal. As we speak many contractors do not know what to do whether they will be told to stop work or not. As things stand contractors are not in safe hands,” Mr Mubanga

GOVERNMENT should find an amicable solution to the impasse between Zesco and the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) because it risks injuring many players in the mining sector, says the Mine Suppliers and Contractors Association of Zambia.

The contractors fear that many jobs and businesses would be lost if the issue of the Bulk Power Supply Agreement was mishandled.

Association president, Augustine Mubanga said it was prudent that the matter is resolved amicably to avert a lot of people from being negatively affected.

Mr Mubanga said many contractors depend on CEC, therefore, if the two parties did not agree on the agreement then many jobs would be lost.

He said in an interview that CEC would not be able to keep all its clientele if was not making meaningful profit.

Mr Mubanga said reaching an agreement on new terms for the BSA would save many jobs.

He said, “The two must be able to sit down and iron out the business transaction, because if they don’t negotiate well and CEC is not given the contract obviously the CEC clientele base will be affected and that will scale down to the contractors .

“What they should think about is the welfare of the contractors who are attached to the company. These are Zambian people and if the contract is not given to CEC then they will really suffer.

This time is very critical and if nothing happens between Zesco and Copperbelt Energy Corporation then many people will be thrown on the street which will be a sad development because many families will be affected.

“Our appeal to the two is that they sit down and negotiate so that things can come back to normal. As we speak many contractors do not know what to do whether they will be told to stop work or not. As things stand contractors are not in safe hands,” Mr Mubanga said.