Chingola council warns smallscale miners against child labour

THE local authority in Chingola will not tolerate smallscale miners that are in the habit of using children to do their labour, Mayor Johnson Kang’ombe has said.

Mr Kang’ombe said smallscale miners needed to desist from using children in their mining activities stating that the practice prevented minors from being educated and has adverse health effects on their bodies.

Mr Kang’ombe said it was horrifying for any society to allow children to be working anywhere, more so in mining areas.

The mayor was speaking during a stakeholder’s meeting with small-scale miners held in Chingola on Thursday.

“Exposing children to mining is child labour, more also any child who gets used to handling money ends up omitting school and depriving themselves of a bright future.

“Small-scale miners and other stakeholders need to join hands to remove children from open-pit mines and take them back to school,” he said.

Mr Kang’ombe added that it was important that the next meeting should include all especially end-users and foreign nationals so that the way forward was mapped for this common goal to be achieved.

He therefore called on everyone from guardians and mining firms to work together to find the lasting solution to the problem.

But Treasurer for One Pride Small Scale Mine Godfrey Kapembwa said it had always been a challenge to completely remove children from the openpit mines as they often found their way back amidst several warnings.

Mr Kapembwa said some small-scale miners took children back to their parents or guardians and offered school essentials for them to be taken back to school but a month later those same children are found still lingering at the open-pit mines.