By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Chingola Youth Arthur Teleshi says that Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) should start running the black mountain as a proper mine with all mining safety regulations in place.
Mr Teleshi said that the way the black mountain is being handled, is not sustainable as the people in the forefront do not know the value of the mountain.
He was contributing to a discussion in TIO Politics Whatsapp group, he said that the black mountain empowerment to the youth will only be sustainable if the operations at the mountain are properly structured.
Mr Teleshi said that the black mountain was just a waste for the mines, as no one looked there for money, but today most offices have their eyes there because its worthy millions of dollars.
“It would even be better if the IDC can take it up, employ mining experts and employ a good number of youths and put them on well-structured salaries. The proceeds from there can be channeled to empower other youth cooperatives that are not into mining with business loans, tools and other forms of empowerments,” he said.
He further stressed that empowerment should and must be sustainable for people, but questioned if black Mountain empowerment to the youths is indeed sustainable looking at what is happening now.
Mr Teleshi said with the kind of tools being used there, safety wire and productivity are simple and extraction is done on the top and edges and much of what is needed remains in the heart of the mountain.
He said those interested to work on the black mountain should apply for a job and be employed.
Mr Teleshi spoke of how all the cooperatives are running to the black mountain, even those with farming interests because their areas of interest have not been given attention.
“If you do a survey of the people scrambling to make something at the black mountain, they come from all sorts of fields. Marketeers, college graduates, Grade 12 school leavers, neglected party carders, failed SME businessmen, name them!”.
He stressed that it’s important to leave a few people to work there and empower the rest with the proceeds from the same in their areas of interest.
And in his remarks, Paul Mushayn said the happenings at the mountain show disorganization such that even if this program is nicknamed empowerment it won’t empower the target groups but further bring more poverty to the targeted.
