CHINA Non-Ferrous Metal Company Luanshya Copper Mines (CLM) public relations officer Sydney Chileya has said Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili’s statements on the mine’s operations should not be taken seriously by members of the public because they are inconsistent and lack merit.
And Mr Chileya has dismissed as malicious Mr Kambwili’s statement that the CLM management had limited the miners salary increment to three per cent.
Mr Chileya said in an interview yesterday that if members of the public studied Mr Kambwili’s statements carefully, they would discover that they lacked consistency.
Mr Kambwili was quoted by a radio station as saying the Chinese investors running CLM were exploiting Zambian employees by paying them what he called peanuts.
“Mr Kambwili is a kind of a man who today says that he is against Chinese investment and the same man will tomorrow say that there is nothing wrong with the Chinese operating mines in Zambia .The media can bear me witness when it comes to this issue.
“The mine management and the representatives of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) and National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) have been holding salary negotiations since April.
“They have not concluded the talks, so what is the basis for Mr Kambwili’s statement. He should tell us the context in which he is saying this,” he said.
Mr Chileya advised all stakeholders to give time to the parties involved in the salary negotiations to conclude their work.
And Zambia Chamber of Mines general manager Fred Bantubonse said his organisation was not ready to comment on Mr Kambwili’s statement, which was yesterday aired by some sections of the electronic media.
In the statement, Mr Kambwili suggested that Chinese investors running CLM were exploiting their Zambian employees by paying them what he called peanuts.
“The Chamber of Mines has a policy of not reacting to political statements made by political players,” Mr Bantubonse said.
MUZ and NUMAW officials said they would not comment on Mr Kambwili’s statement because they were still negotiating over salaries with the mine management.
They advised Mr Kambwili and other stakeholders to respect the laws governing the collective bargaining process.
[ Times of Zambia ]