Stiffer Environmental and Safety Rules in the pipeline

It really must be a miserable time to be a manager at Mopani Copper Mines (MCM). On Friday the company found out its long-running tax holiday was to be curtailed. Yesterday a Minister raised the politically sensitive issue of delays in pension payments, placing blame that Mopani would dearly love to shift elsewhere squarely on the doorstep of the mining house. Today, The Times of Zambia report that the Environmental Council of Zambia has charged and fined MCM's mine manager and three other employees in relation to the pollution of Mufulira water system on January 2 this year.The company polluted the water supply system affecting 800 Mufulira residents who were attended to at Ronald Ross and Malcom Watson Hospitals. Mines and mineral development minister Kalombo Mwansa also announced that Government would be introducing tougher legislation to regulate both environmental and health and safety standards in the mining sector and to impose stiffer penalites on failing companies.

Dr Mwansa said the Mine Health and Safety Policy which would provide strict safety guidelines was being formulated while the Mines Safety Department was also being strengthened. In response to Chasefu Member of Parliament (MP) Chifumu Banda (FDD) who wanted to know if the Mufulira victims would be compensated, he said the victims were free to take any action they wanted although Government wanted to stiffen punishment.

All in all, I find these developments incredibly encouraging. In the 'For Whom the Windfalls?' report I predicted that Government would press the companies for more social responsibility and would re-negotiate tax arrangements. I wouldn't have predicted the tax measures would be imposed in the way that they have been. But I also suggested that local resentments against the mining firms related as much to failures of responsibility and regulation on environmental, safety and labour issues. We now hear talk of reforms and increased regultory capacity in two out of three of these areas (environment and safety) and the ECZ does appear significantly energised in recent months. We have also seen interssting Government action in relation to local supply chains. Of course delivery of new regulations will be key, and is massively overdue. Minewatchers will want to keep an eye on these proposals. Campaigners might like to remind the Minister of his commitments if the reforms are not forthcoming. And labour campaigners need to work out how to get their serious grievances onto the Governments agenda while the issue remains hot.

In other news, The Post report that FDD vice-president Chifumu Banda yesterday commended the government for the windfall tax. Banda said it was unacceptable that Zambian minerals should be enriching foreigners while 80 per cent of Zambians continued to suffer from poverty, economic exploitation and social degradation. "As FDD, we believe in joint ventures where the government of Zambia must hold not less than 50 per cent shares in any mining or any business venture of such magnitude," said Banda.