Mumbwa Member of Parliament (MP) Credo Nanjuwa has called for the quick and proper reorganisation of illegal mines in Mumbwa, Chisamba, Chibombo and other districts of Central province in order to allow the local people to benefit more from the mines.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Nanjuwa said there is need to reorganise the gold mines which were closed up due to illegal mining activities that were taking place.
Nanjuwa said this was done in an effort to ensure that resources in the province can be exploited in the right way and government can be able to realise taxes as well as have people in the area get sustaining jobs and business opportunities.
He said Government should move in quickly especially the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) and do the approvals and give licenses to the potential investors for the benefit of the province and the country.
The MP said he hopes to see all those qualified investors who have applied for approvals from ZEMA be given a go ahead so that the province can improve and has also appealed for the imperative reopening of the cadastre at the Ministry of Mines as there are potential investors that have so far shown interest.
Nanjuwa noted that even after removing the illegal miners and suspending operations at 100%, there are still some people that chose to sneak in some mining areas and exploit the resources at the end of the day hence the need to expedite the reorganising of the mines.
Meanwhile Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe has assured that formalisation of artisanal and small scale mining is on the cards and the document is almost ready adding that it has taken long because government wants to do their best.
