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CEJ nods closure of illegal manganese mine in Serenje

• The situation in Serenje required quick action.
• The country has been losing out on revenue.
• It is difficult to anticipate if they were remitting any taxes or committing to the Environmental Protection Fund.

Zambia’s mining sector plays critical role in fostering economic development.
This sector accounts for 17.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), over 70 percent of foreign exchange earnings, 30 percent of government revenue, and 2 percent of formal employment.
Despite its contribution to GDP, the mining industry is characterized by rampant illegal mining activities in various parts of the country.
In most cases, illegal mining operations result to loss of mineral revenue, food insecurity, destruction to surface and underground water through toxic contamination, air and noise pollution, as well as destruction of biodiversity, among others.
And government is determined to restore order in the mining sector as evidenced by the closure of an illegal mine in Central province.
Recently, Zambia Environmental Management Agency -ZEMA shut down an illegal manganese mine operating in the premises of Muchinda Boarding Secondary School in Serenje District.

This was after Chief Kabamba of the Lala people of Serenje District in Central Province and Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ) expressed concern over a Zambian investor conducting large scale open pit manganese mining at the school premises.

ZEMA Acting Director General Maxwell Nkoya said an assessment done by inspectors at the site found that the mine had no authority to embark on large scale mining at the school.

And CEJ Head of Research, Freeman Mubanga has commended government for taking quick action in the closure of the illegal mining firms.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Mr. Mubanga said the situation in Serenje required quick action because the country has been losing out on the revenue that could have been collected if the mining firms were registered as legal entities.
He added that the fact that they are illegal, it is difficult to anticipate if they were remitting any taxes or committing to the Environmental Protection Fund, which was established for the purpose of remediating the land after the closure of an operation.
“There are so many issues that are coming up and also just in terms of the moral aspect of how can we have open pit mining within a premise of a school, that is unethical. So we are applauding even the government for taking this step, because indeed we need strong actions now that our environment is equally challenged by the impacts of climate change.”
“There are certain issues that we cannot allow to see being prolonged and taking place without taking any action. So the step that government has actually taken, must be something that we need to see every now and then so that people can realize that environmental issues are a priority in this nation,” Mr. Mubanga stated.
Mr. Mubanga further said Zambia has been recognized for its environmental advocacy, climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, hence the country should not allow anything that will deter its aspirations to become environmental champions within the continent and across the globe.
“We are seriously advocating for strong actions for environmental sustainability and those illegal mining that are taking place in Serenje, they really have to be put to a stop, we are losing out so much on the forest landscapes and forest restoration in itself is another cost that I don’t think there will be someone who will find the money to support those forest restoration activities that can take place because of these land degradations that are happening in Serenje.”
“We need legal entities that will come upfront and face the law and have their entities registered so that mining in Zambia, if at all we approve and move forward, must be done in a more sustainable way as opposed to what we are seeing in Serenje,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mubanga further stressed the need for authorities to address the labour concerns at the illegal mining site.
“There are also other labour issues that are taking place, we saw young women and men loading manganese onto those tipper trucks and these people are actually getting peanuts for the loading jobs that they are doing. So there are quite a number of unsanctioned issues that are coming up because of these illegal mining operations,” he noted.

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