The Luangwa Establishment has added its voice to the ongoing debates surrounding the proposed copper mining prospects in the Lower Zambezi and has announced its views of supporting the move saying it will contribute significantly to the treasury of this country.
The Luangwa Establishment, a non-governmental organization formed for the purpose of promoting cultural and developmental programmes in Luangwa district has explained that Zambia’s economy is dependent on mining hence the proposed mine will bring employment to youths in the nearby districts and the country as a whole.
Addressing the media in Lusaka on November 21, 2019, Luangwa Establishment Chairperson Joseph Felemenga said despite knowing that mining has a limited lifespan and some noted impact on the environment, its development impact is certainly huge and it cannot be ignored. He has since called on the Zambia Environmental Management Agency – ZEMA to make available necessary guidance and documents for mining to commence at the site.
“In our esteemed opinion, any developmental undertaking must demonstrate that it will benefit the local people first through corporate social amenities, employment, service delivery and other supply contracts. Therefore, we strongly recommend that we take the mining route and we hope that the authorities will cooperate with the investor, who in turn shall actualize our dreams and aspirations,” he said.
Felemenga added that mining is not taking part in the whole of Lower Zambezi as the National Park has a land area of 4,092 Square Kilometers and it is over 40KM from the Zambezi river inwards adding that animals are over 50Km away from the mining sites hence world life still has abundant land to roam and feed from.
Meanwhile, when ZEMA was contacted for a comment, the Agency’s Public Relations Manager Ireen Chipili told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview that the agency has not received any revised Environmental Assessment Report – EIA from the developer for review hence has no proper comment on the matter.
She said the developer is in charge of providing an EIA to the agency which contains both positive and negative results on the environment before the project begins and that it has not received any new report on mining in the Lower Zambezi.
Chipili further explained that the Agency had in 2015 reviewed a report from Zambezi resources regarding the matter but that the project was not undertaken for three years hence the permit expired as the low requires that if works don’t begin within the stipulated period of time, the license is automatically withdrawn.
