By Chinoyi Chipulu
Chief government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says there is no need to press the panic button to alarm the nation and the international community as the water being consumed on the Copperbelt Province is safe, contrary to the US Embassy advisory.
And Mweetwa says the government is ready to respect the decision of the court regarding the burial of late President Edgar Lungu today.
On Wednesday, the U.S. government ordered the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. government personnel from Kitwe and nearby areas affected by the Sino Metals Mine Tailings Dam spill saying newly available information revealed the extent of hazardous and carcinogenic substances as well as the immediate and long-term health threats that exposure to these contaminants, posed as long as they remained in the environment.
The Embassy stated that beyond contaminated water and soil, contaminants from the spilled mine tailings may also become airborne, posing a health threat if inhaled.
But Mweetwa said yesterday at a press briefing that the government had handled the situation amicably and there was no need to declare a national disaster.
He said this was not the first time the country had such an incident and the government managed to deal with it and would ensure a total cleanup was done to ensure the safety of the people.
“In declaring a national disaster, the nation is telling the international community of its incapacity to handle such an occurrence as a country, with full implications that with such declarations, you then are going to set aside the normal operation of the national budget and mobilise resources that have been apportioned to various spending agencies and redirect them into responding to this one issue,” he said.
He said the country was not incapable of solving the issue that it could suspend the budget to go and do tests.
Mweetwa said when something happened in the country, many citizens were free to comment on the occurrences.
“And when one entity opts to indulge into the release of information within their possession or knowledge, that does not change the cause of action of the government in the like manner the President directed for conduct of a forensic audit over the ZAMMSA (Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency) issue, and before government could release its finding, some entities found it opportune for them to run ahead of the government. So we won’t blame anyone for such kind of behavior,” he said.
Asked why it had to take the US Embassy to react for the government to respond, Mweetwa said the government would inform the nation on matters when it deemed right and would not be perturbed by the indulgence of anyone.
“It does not mean they are the ones who make us do the things we do no! Because if they are the ones, we would have been sitting waiting for headlines,” he said.
Mweetwa said the nation had been having regular updates through the National Assembly.
He said when the incident happened, the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, through ZEMA, (Zambia Environmental Management Agency) was immediately tasked to closely monitor water pH levels and heavy metals in the affected rivers.
“I am pleased to inform you that by early March, pH levels had recovered from elevated acidic levels to about seven, which is within the acceptable national and international standards. In addition, the government has been actively monitoring the presence of heavy metals. Preliminary findings in February showed elevated levels of copper, cobalt, iron, manganese, zinc and lead in selected sites,” he said.
Mweetwa said appropriate remedial actions were taken and over 200 water and sediment samples were collected, tested and analysed.
He said preliminary results for 37 samples had been released, while 163 were still undergoing testing by an independent laboratory in Kitwe.
He said raw and treated water quality were being monitored to ensure compliance with health and safety standards.
Mweetwa said no major health complications or outbreaks linked to the pollution had been recorded thus far.
“Routine surveillance is ongoing and no confirmed cases of acute heavy metal poisoning have been detected or reported. For the avoidance of doubt, I want to tell the nation in no uncertain terms that no death resulting from the pollution incidents has been recorded since the pollution occurred in February this year, ” Mweetwa said.
He said the government remained fully committed to holding the polluter accountable, restoring the affected areas and ensuring that such an incident does not repeat itself.
Mweetwa said Sino Metals Lich Zambia was fully cooperating with the government and was submitting to the dictates of national laws.
He stated that the necessary compensations of the affected people were on schedule, and costs for assessments and cleanups were being met by the company.
“I wish to encourage any individual or organisation that comes across new information to forward and engage government on this, so that together we can find a lasting solution to this challenge. Your government remains firm in its resolve to protect the environment, safeguard public health and promote sustainable development for current and future generations,” he said.
And Mweetwa has urged citizens to respect the court’s decision, stating that the nation must unite in giving former president Edgar Lungu a befitting burial.
He said the government was hopeful that the late president would be laid to rest in his homeland, in a dignified manner.
“We are expecting a judgment, we appeal to citizens to remain calm in anticipation and on the part of government, and we stand ready to respect the decision that will come out of South Africa, “he said.
He urged citizens to respect the outcome of the judgment as Zambians were law abiding.
And minister of Green Economy Mike Mposha said the international community was engaged and briefed about the pollution.
“We had a very elaborate engagement where they were free to ask questions and what further actions we were taking and we responded,” he said
Mposha urged the media to depend on reliable sources of information.
“Our colleagues, members of the press it’s important that you depend on reliable sources of information, anyone who decides to go out and make their own assertions, okay, we can only respect those assertions but our position is that we must give the correct situation on the ground,” Mposha said.
He said one of the ambassadors asked if the cabinet had tabled a report of some assessments that had been done.
“And I responded in that meeting that there had never been a cabinet meeting that discussed a report to do with the assessment on this accident and this ambassador goes out to insist that they had reliable information that cabinet discussed such a report. So you can judge on your own,” he said.
Mposha said the government had nothing to hide but gave correct information to ambassadors and high commissioners.
Minister of Livestock and Water Development Collins Nzovu said the government would engage the US Embassy if they issued such statements in future.
He said the water was of acceptable PH and free of heavy metals as the government had continuously made tests of the water.
Nzovu said he was not sure where allegations that the government was giving people contaminated water were coming from.
