Seventeen cows have died after drinking contaminated water near Bubanii Resources Limited and Ozone mines in Mumbwa District, officials have confirmed.
Central Province Permanent Secretary Dr. Milner Mwanakampwe reported that 14 cattle perished after consuming water contaminated with cyanide following a spillage near Bubanji Mine. The animals are believed to have drunk the polluted water from a natural grazing area.
Meanwhile, Mumbwa District Commissioner Namukolo Hayumbu stated that efforts to neutralize the contamination began yesterday, with experts closely monitoring the situation.
In a related incident, three additional cattle died after a tailings dam at Ozone Mine burst, releasing effluent into nearby cattle drinking ponds. However, Dr. Mwanakampwe assured that natural water bodies have not been affected, as the spilled tailings have been treated to prevent further environmental damage.
The government is also taking measures to prevent pollution from spreading to the Kafue River, which could threaten wildlife in the Kafue National Park. Authorities have advised residents in Kashiya, under Chief Mwinuna’s chiefdom in Ngabwe District, against consuming water from the river, locally known as Luwishi River.
Farmers in the affected areas have been instructed to keep their livestock away from the contaminated water sources until the situation stabilizes. The government continues to monitor developments closely.
Where is the Mines Safety Department when you need them most? Looks like they’re fast asleep and unable to conduct mines inspections at least twice per year, as required. Resolving contaminations after they happen is way more expensive than preventing them from happening in the first place.
Who will compensate these farmers??
we never learn and that is our problem
then there’s the question of brown envelopes dont forget
which thrives in all GRZ departments now and not only the police
Who owns the mine
Who inspects the mine? Who authorized the mining? Corrupt government officials of course
Where is ZEMA and what are they doing about this? What about groundwater, won’t it be polluted? How was the mine granted the land for mining? Did they carry out an environmental risk assessment?
These and others are questions we need to ask ourselves because local companies, if they pollute the environment, are fined. This is not fair to the local people and the country at large.
This trend is concerning. Someone is actually sleeping, and a whip needs to be cracked.
Noone is sleeping. They are busy pocketing bribes from the fake investors who are actually exploiters
Again I blame ZEMA. They are just too casual with environmental regulations> As environmentalist I have had meetings with different developers. When I give them a quotation indicating samples that need to be collected they rush to ZEMA to reduce the work that should be undertaken. These are therefore the consequences.