By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA –
THE National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) has petitioned Government to block Barrick-Lumwana Mine from being placed on care and maintenance by the investor, Barrick Gold Corporation.
Barrick Gold has given notice of putting the mine on care and maintenance because of the upward adjustment for mineral royalty tax from six per cent to 20 per cent for open cast mining operations.
NUMAW president James Chansa who presented the petition to Kitwe District Commissioner Elias Kamanga on Wednesday said more than four thousand jobs would be lost if Barrick Lumwana suspended operations.
Mr Chansa said the union was aware that under the new fiscal taxation measures, the mineral royalty for open and underground mining operations were adjusted upwards.
He said Government was justified to make the adjustment because it needed such revenue for infrastructure development and poverty alleviation.
“If the company is allowed to go ahead to place the mine under care and maintenance, a precedent will be set which will result in the loss of thousands of jobs in the mining sector,” he said.
He said the development has the potential to plunge the country into an economic abyss.
Mr Chansa said there was need to realise that mining was one of the major sources of people’s livelihoods.
The mining sector was very critical to the economy of the country as apart from being the second largest employer, it also contributes significantly to the country’s balance of payment support and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mr Chansa said for Government to have come up with the new taxation structure entailed that extensive consultations were made.
He demand that no miner should be laid off at Barrick Lumwana Mine because of the standoff between Government and management until an independent select committee of experts was constituted to prove
whether what the mine was advancing is true or not.
Mr Kamanga who emphasised the need for investors to desist from engaging in activities that were detrimental to the growth of the economy promised to present the petition to Government.