By Isaac Zulu
National Union for Mineworkers Allied Workers (NUMAW) president Saul Simujika says there is anxiety among his members on account of President Hakainde Hichilema’s unfulfilled pledges on Mopani and Konkola Copper mines on the Copperbelt.
In an interview, Simujika, who is immediate past NUMAW national treasurer, said that the general membership is disappointed with the UPND administration’s prouncement that it will revamp Mopani Copper Mines and Konkola Copper Mines by the end of the first quarter of this year and ensure that the two mining giants become fully operational, and yet the two facilities have remained underperforming.
“If you remember very well, when the President visited the Copperbelt towards the end of February, he promised the miners and the union members in general that the UPND government has sourced some funds to ensure that Mopani Copper Mines and Konkola Copper Mines become fully operational in the first quarter of 2023,” Simujika said. “However, the said pledge that was made by the President and subsequent announcements from some line Ministers and Ministries have not been bearing fruits. This is in turn creating a lot of anxiety among our members in the labour movement.”
He stressed that the UPND administration and ZCCM-IH had indicated that funds have been sourced to go towards the full operational of Mopani Copper Mines and KCM, and wondered why government has not made its position on the matter, up to date.
Simujika said that ZCCM-IH holdings and the UPND government should have taken advantage of the desire by Vedantta Mineral Resources to plough more financial resources in its social corporate social responsibility programme the pledge to increase workers’ conditions of service in a quest to improve people’s lives in the areas where they are operating from.
“From the conversations that we had with the Head of State when he came to the Copperbelt, there were convincing reasons that the two mining companies should be recapitalised in order for them to run fully operational and profitable,” said Simujika. “There were also strong indications from Vedantta Minerals Resources that they are going to honour their pledges on social corporate responsibility, including the need to increase workers ‘conditions of service. It is for this reason, therefore, that we continue to make an earnest appeal to the government and the Ministry of Mines to ensure that the Presidential pronouncements are actualized.”
