By NAMUTENGA SAKAPILA
Center for trade and Policy Development says Mining companies in Zambia should stop manipulating government by using mine workers as bargaining chips.
CTPD Executive Director Isaac Mwaipopo said it is concerning that every time there is a standoff between government and managing companies, the mining companies resort to using mine workers as sacrificial lambs.
Mr Mwaipopo said mining companies should stop their arm twisting of government but instead resort to constructive dialogue should be adopted resolve their concerns with government,
“While we understand that there could be some concerns from the mining companies with regards to the proposed tax changes, it is imperative that dialogue is prioritized over manipulative and arm twisting tactics.”
“One thing the mining companies must never forget is that the minerals they are extracting and exploiting belong to the Zambian people and Zambians have every right to participate and benefit from its natural resource endowment and employment is one of the ways through which this is archived,” He said.
He said government should step up efforts to invest in improving the Nations technical capacity to understand the operations of the mining industry, failure to do so, will continue to make this country depend on outside mining players information dictating on how the sector is run, which will make it difficult for government to make informed policy decisions.
This is contained in a press statement made available to the Independent Observer by CTPD Executive Director Isaac Mwaipopo.
