Republican President Rupiah Banda will this Friday travel to Sinazongwe district for a ground breaking ceremony of the re-opening of Maamba Collieries Limited (MCL) that was sold to an equity partner of Nava Bharata Singapore.
The MCL Management has intensified preparations from ground breaking ceremony, and some old infrastructure at the company premise have been demolished to pave for the modern structures that are constructed.
MCL Director Ashwin Devineni told journalist at Maamba’s Izuma Lodge that full production of mining of coal will start in August as at the moment the company is clearing the overburden in readiness for coal extraction.
Mr Devineni said the large scale operations of extraction and transportation of high-grade coal has been contracted to GRN Constructions (Zambia) who have extensive experience in environmental conscious Coal Mining.
He disclosed that GRN (Zambia) have initiated the hiring of over 100 employees from within Maamba region in Phase one and have undertaken to train suitable personnel on the operations and handling of Heavy Machinery in coal mining
He said MCL will be supervising the operations of the contractor who is expected to be producing 50,000 metric tones per month once the thermal power plant is constructed.
Mr Devineni who is also the Chief Executive Officer for Nava Bharat Singapore said the new Coal Processing Plant (CPP) which has been bought at the cost of US$ 23 Million from South Africa will start operating in September this year.
The Director disclosed that procurement of the equipment for the construction of a thermal Power plant which will be using coal has reached an advanced stage and it will be completed in 2013 or 2014 as construction will take three to four years.
He said phase one of the power plant will be producing 300 mega watts of thermal electricity and it will cost US$750 million for construction and in phase two another 300 mega watts with be constructed.
Mr Devineni said the power will be channelled through Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) for distribution to customers.
He said their will be a lot of employment opportunities in Maamba and many companies will be set as a result of investment.
Mr.Devineni also disclosed that the company has since spent US$ 36 million on retirement, salaries arrears, Voluntary Employee Separation Scheme and other liabilities.
He said Maamba Development Trust has been put in place to ensure that social services such as education, water, sports were provided to the communities.
The director also pointed out that the mining will be done in an environmentally friendly as water will be recycled and all the overburden materials will be buried to avoid pollution.
Nava Bharat (Singapore) Pte Ltd. (NBS) joined as a strategic equity and technical partner by acquiring 65 percent equity stake in MCL from Zambia Consolidate Copper Mine –Investment Holding (ZCCM-IH) in April 2010.
Fantastic news. Zambia is on a growth path. No one should stop this momentum. We don’t need spanners in the works of the current economic growth engine.
#1, bushe mumutwe obe mwaisula amafina yelonda mwa?
Some more good news…. lets move on Zambia
Mwe bantu this man seems to be working, abash politics but the last year he’s been on a roll I AM NOT PRO MMD but guys these guys will be in power for another five years as SATA talks politics RB speaks tangible projects…….. any arguments there??
# 4 tell me how a company’s investment becomes him working? Do you say he is working because he is the one to officiate at the ground breaking ceremony?
Another GREAT BANDA project in the election year. Nicipuba president uyu!
In Zambia the forieger is boss. Zambians remain as 20pin/day work force. Lets face it, Zambia at the moment only has natural resourses to showfor. Untill we have a GRZ that says for example, we will get less in bribes but we want the processing plants in Zambia rather than sent raw materials outside. We will get less in taxes but we want shopright and the rest to exhust local produce, the immigration department should not act as a money collecting entity by way of issuing work permits, cant this money mad MMD see that $2million collected from issuing work permits affects Zambia more in the long run by taking jobs meant for Zambans ?. RB and his Gang of MMD bussiness pipo only think of money in the short term, they would rather rent, then build and showoff the monies saved. Thieving MMD.
better still the first person to explore coal deposits and put up the structure was more intelligent than these chaps who sell and resell the same coy’s and blowing trumpets that some thing new has come. Imwe ba pumbafu, MCL was under ZCCM a long time ago before your mothers were impreganted to give birth to you small brain chaps
Kusuminafye bafikalb umuntu alebombesha te magic
The only thing RB should be happy of is that he has created a conducive environment for investment. If the noisy SATA came in all the investors will feel the pressure of doing business in Zambia and eventually leave. The result of this is that Zambia’s economy will grind to a halt making us Zambians vulnerable and begin begging in the neighbouring countries like Zimbabweans were doing. Mind the way you people look at the leadership qualities. It is for this reason that HH befits in this modern political and economic atmosphere. Call him names but we shall be the one to suffer the consequences of the decisions we make.
RB tell the nation why the indian investors who bought Kafue textiles have sold the ginnery to malawi. It is beeing transported now. The buildings are being used as FRA warehouses.
If there is no market for chitenges, why are the malawians buying the ginnery ?.
You lead a selling zambia GRZ. After selling and giving foreigners preferential treatment when you recive bribes you want to show us the money your GRZ has accumilated, we are not fools we know you are selling our future. Your GRZ would rather import every thing from SA then show us the money you saved from building manufacturing plants. that is how your MMD think, you are just business pipo pretending to be leaders.
Zero Option pls muleufyako ulusa some of these chaps are sons and duaghters of leaders in this outgoing mmd I.D.O.I.T.S like Mr. Capitalist – 3 E’s steering economic growth, The Engineer (Australia
We’ve seen these stoopid acts of desperation before, where in the last few months before elections, frogs such as this retarded clown Rubbish Barstard remember they actually have tadpoles to take care of, so now you see him trotting from constituency to constituency, district to district. And all these myopic supporters with short memories give a blind eye to the fact that this cane rat was busy flying around the globe on endless, fruitless trips, shopping for bikkinis for the first lady Thandi. Do not be foo/led. This Bozo is a freak from a failed circus that overstayed in town. He’s a worthless piece of unpresidential mag/got slime and has nothing to offer the multitudes. This plastic development you’re seeing will be muddy trenches and deep gullies come rain season.P/igs!
Just announce the date of your departure baba
Have you forgotten the promise about increaments for MPs. Mr. Desperatol promised not increase salarries, but it was the first thing he did and what followed was being air bone and the circus you are seeing, being on the ground trotting from place to plcae, hoping to again use the same trick.
Ever since I completed the construction of my toilet I ave been waiting for some one whose job is to commission new constructions. I will not put it to use until it is officially opened.
Whats new with Maamba mine today?Just ground breaking ceremony becomes a campain issue of development?For how long has this mine been closed making Mines,Breweries,Chilanga cement,Ndola Lime import coal from Wanke Zimbabwe whilest our own local mine needed capital injection only?Just look at NCZ,that company needs capital recapitalisation only but Gov continues to award fertiliser contracts with Niyombo Invsts,Omnia,Sable contractors etc…Beta if ZCCM invsts was 100ect ownership,could make alot of sense recapitalisation only but Gov continues to award fertiliser contracts with Niyombo Invsts,Omnia,Sable contractors etc…Beta if ZCCM invsts
Good for the people here when Imutowana was MD Maamba was good place to be…
Southern Province should be renamed the Power Province. There is the Kariba North, Kafue Gorge & Victoria Falls power stations. Soon there will be Itezhi Tezhi, Kafue Gorge Lower & Maamba power stations. What a rich province!
ubupuba ba pf mulekeko. can’t you keep your beaks shut just for a day twatushako? okay if you guys can’t zip up your mouths, talk about the pf “erections”.
Miko, please show us some leadership. President Chiluba was a public figure, as a tax payer i also have the right to demand for postmortem. Who signed the BID certicificate? Take after Joe Jackson, some Doctor is in court. Our president wasnt sick what killed. We want to hear from you not fake family spokes person. A family consists of father mother and children.