By Staff Writer
Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ) has praised Green Economy and Environment Minister Collins Nzovu’s administrative sanctions on manganese mines in Mkushi and Serenje, Central Province.
CEJ Head of Research Freeman Mubanga said the organisation is delighted by the Minister’s administrative sanctions but called for legal sanctions.
Mr Mubanga said the influx of Manganese mining in Central Province particularly in the Mkushi and Serenje Districts is a matter that required strict monitoring.
He said the decision by the Minister of Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu is a stamp of leadership that civil society organizations were waiting to witness for the longest time.
“Unscrupulous mining is not only a threat to the environment but huge retardation in economic development,” he said.
Mr Mubanga said that host communities in mining areas had nothing to show for and yet millions of dollars left the areas and the only thing that they were left with were degraded forest landscapes, and water and air pollution.
“Although the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) may approve mining operations in some areas, it has been noticed that most of these mining companies do not comply with the conditions attached to the approval and the environmental laws,” he said.
Mr Mubanga since demanded that there was need to move from administrative sanctions on unsustainable mining operations to legal sanctions on the damage caused to the environment.
“CEJ remains resolute on the position to curb mining operations that are a threat to the environmental protection agenda of Zambia and shall continue to support strong actions for environmental justice,” he said. Mr Mubanga explained that CEJ believed that the Minister had charged ZEMA to do what was expected of them, to make sure the regulator took the necessary steps to stop the impunity as stipulated by the law.
