By NCHIMUNYA MIYOBA
The Zambia Chamber of Mines Zambia will not recover the lost taxes even with the new tax regime.
And Zambia Chamber of Mines President Goodwell Mateyo says it is commendable that some mining firms have rescinded on their earlier projection to lay off 21,0000workers owing to the newly introduced fiscal regime.
Speaking a public discussion organised by News Diggers in collaboration with Open Society Intiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Mr Mateyo said there is need to engage government to ensure conclusive engagement.
He warned that if stakeholders and government fail to conclusively engage each other it may gravely hamper the country’s economy.
“New taxes are likely to hamper the county’s quest to diversify the mining sector. Regulatory environmental especially on ensuring consistency on the issues of taxes, is making Zambia not to grow and entice foreign direct investigation,” he said.
And Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) said taxation must to be fair for the country to have a conducive evironment to do business that will open up more investment.
ZACCI President Micheal Chilufya said said government should show consistency in policy formulation if the mining sector is to grow
Mr Chilufya Zambia should not be taxing itself for prosperity but ensure that taxes are fair for individuals and companies adding that government should not use force in handling tax issues.
Meanwhile Minworkers Union of Zambia President Joseph Chewe said the mining sector has lost of workers because of tax related issues.
Mr Chewe said mines always find it easy to layoff workers everytime they are faced with challenges.
