By JUDITH NAMUTOWE-
SOLWEZI Municipal Council (SMC) has received more than K30 million from mining companies for various developmental activities in the district.
Solwezi Town Clerk Ronald Daka said the council received about K30.9 million from mining companies as annual business fees and property rates between June 2012 and June 2013.
Mr Daka said this during the dissemination of the Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ZEITI) 2011 fourth reconciliation report at a workshop held in Solwezi last week.
“As the council, we received K30.9 million between June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2013, which we have applied in various areas at the local authority,” Mr Daka said.
Mr Daka said part of the K30.9 million was used to purchase the earth moving equipment for the roads which cost the local authority a total of K12 million.
He said K4.5 million was used to build an office block, while K1.6 million went towards compensation at Kabitaka, with K2 million having been used to purchase motor vehicles for the council.
Mr Daka, however, said that the council did not do well on the road network in townships, but pledged to do a good job this year.
He said even after projects had been done, the council was faced with high expectations from the people, but that still faced challenges in project implementation.
ZEITI project administration officer Kaonga Mazaba praised the council for accounting for the money it received from the mines.
Mr Mazaba said the EITI was happy that SMC was able to account for the funds which it received from mining companies.
“It is a plus for ZEITI to have the council explain how it utilised the money it received from mining companies.
“It is good for the council to account for the money it received from the mining companies was used so as to instil investor confidence,” Mr Mazaba said.