By JAMES MUYANWA? –
THE Kabwe Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) is saddened with the closure of Sable Zinc in Kabwe over the Value Added Tax (VAT) refund.
KCCI president Sydney Tembo said the closure of Sable Zinc, which had affected 180 employees, was devastating for the district.
He said in a statement that the chamber would be happy if the Government and the mining houses could find a lasting and amicable solution to the current impasse which also threatened the economic wellbeing of Kabwe.
“This is devastating for our town which was beginning to show signs of turnaround after struggling with high unemployment and a lack of business opportunities. As a chamber, we hope that the Government and the mining industry will find an amicable solution soon,” he said.
Sable Zinc, after operating for more than 104 years, 14 years since privatisation in the historic mining town of Kabwe, finally closed its doors and sent its workforce away recently.
Commenting on the same Zalco chief executive officer, Hussein Safieddine, whose firm operates a large local manufacturing business in Kabwe expressed disappointment at the closure of the Sable Zinc operations.
“Sable Zinc is the first of many marginal operations being crippled by the continual withholding of VAT returns, which is now believed to have exceeded $750 million, and with no end in sight, I fear that this may be the first of a number of mining operations that will have to close its doors, should the stalemate continue”, Mr Safieddine said.
He said it was sad to see the impact of delays in paying back the VAT, despite the mining companies having proved that their products were exported through the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) system.
“Sable Zinc and Zalco worked together in many areas and between them were the largest employers in Kabwe.
The closure of this plant will seriously affect the livelihoods of many families in Kabwe who relied on Sable’s employment for survival.
“We are already seeing the impact of this, on the town, and are very sad that the issue could not be resolved despite so many meetings with the various stakeholders,” he said.
Sources close to the matter said that should the current impasse in the VAT be resolved and the outstanding money refunded, then Sable would review its decision and reopen its operations in Kabwe.