Government urged to explore Oil, Gases in Sinazongwe

By Tovin Ngombe:-

Senior Chief Mweemba of the Tonga people in Sinazongwe district has appealed to government to send a team of experts to verify the oil traces and gases in his kingdom.

The senior chief said since the reporting of the matter last year no government official has visited his area.

Last year Energy Minister Felix Mutata said government would send a team of experts to determine the presence of oil and gases in Senior Chief Mweemba area.

“No government officer has come to the area, I want them to come and see we are ready to take them to the site,” the Senior Chief said.

The Senior Chief reaffirmed that oil is found at Kanesiya stream near Siameja but the road leading to the site was impassable as it needs a motor bicycle to reach it.

The Senior Chief noted that if oil was found it would improve the country’s economy and improve the general welfare of all Zambians.

He also showed ZANIS the bottles containing suspected oil that looks like diesel and petrol to the eye which his subjects had collected from the sources where it is found.

Senior Chief Mweemba explained that when people get water from the stream in the dry season and light fire on it, the water burns entailing that there was a possibility of oil and gases.

Last year government discovered oil and gases in Kapombo, Zambezi, and Chavuma district in North Western Province.

President Levy Mwanawasa appointed a team of experts to explore the possibilities of oil and gases after the chiefs from North Western Province briefed him about it.