END POLLUTION OF STREAMS IN MINING COMMUNITIES, ZEMA URGED

THE continued pollution of streams through mining activities has worried the Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ).

The organisation says it has observed how mining activities across the country especially coal mining in Sinazongwe had contributed to air and water pollution.

It has since called for sustained efforts to end the habit.

CEJ Head of Research Freeman Mubanga said some streams such as Sikalamba Stream and Nkandabwe Dam in Sinazongwe were declared unfit for both human and animal consumption by the Ministry of Health.

Mr Mubanga said Nkandabwe area in Sinazongwe where Collum Coal Mine is located, is a place where water from the boreholes and wells is contaminated. "Community members have noticed that sustained consumption of water brings about stomach complications characterised by severe abdominal pains.

"In other communities, it is indicated that over time the water affects the pigmentation of the teeth from white to an unpleasant brown colour," he said. Mr Mubanga has urged the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) to take radical action in ensuring that mining firms were following the environmental laws.

He added that ZEMA needed to intensify compliance, monitoring, environmental audits and physical inspections. He said community members had been complaining about the pollution and yet little to nothing has been done to ensure that such irregularities are controlled.

Mr. Mubanga added that some mines were reported to have been warned by ZEMA and yet no tangible actions had been taken to control water pollution.

He said it should be Government’s priority to ensure that the developmental initiatives were improving the quality of life of Zambians through protection and management of the whole environment and natural resources were achieved.