WE STAND with the nation, and the people of Chingola in particular, over the tragedy at Seseli, where about 31 people, including boys, were buried alive while trying to salvage minerals at an open-pit mining site.
The mine accident happened at Cop A Seseli mine on Thursday night following a downpour which led to the earth caving in and burying the people who were working in the tunnels. By press time, the fate of the illegal miners was still unknown, with rescue workers still frantically trying to locate them.
We sympathise with families that have to endure the pain of uncertainty surrounding the fate of their fathers, sons, nephews and grandsons. Some of the victims were too young to even understand the dangers of working in the environment they found themselves in.
It has also become apparent that those buried alive ignored warnings about the downpour that night. This was clearly a disaster-in-waiting.
One of the miners who left the pit before the earth moved has revealed that his colleagues refused to leave the area when they were alerted about the rain. But all this is beside the issue now, we must now hope that the men will be pulled out alive and united with their families.
And we must now seek ways of preventing such tragic events in future. We must not skate around this issue, but must be very decisive.
The issue of illegal mining is a growing and worrying trend which must be addressed urgently.
Mining is a highly regulated industry and those who get involved are always subjected to stringent rules and regulations to ensure that accidents are minimised. These rules and regulations cannot be flagrantly abrogated without any consequence, and unfortunately the consequences can be very tragic.
We must always find ways of stopping illegality, regardless of who is involved or their excuse for involvement.
And we know that while the victims of this disaster were trying to put food on their tables, those they worked for or supplied the copper ore to are driven by greed.
These are individuals who have become rich by taking advantage of the poor; they do not follow any business ethics and will care less that a bag of copper ore came off the back of a 14-year-old boy.
Some of the off-takers are wellestablished foundries in Chingola fed by the black market for copper and scrap metal.
We understand that each tunnel at the pit where this accident happened is owned by individuals who later hire out small boys and youths to conduct mining activities on their behalf.
One of the illegal miners said people hired are paid as little as K100 while the tunnel owners sell the copper ore at K20,000 per tonne.
We, therefore, urge authorities to address this issue from its roots.
We must cut the illegal demand in order to cut the illegal mining and supply.
We must also open our eyes to other sites around the country that pose the same risk as Seseli, and prevent such disasters in future.
Seseli: Never again
WE STAND with the nation, and the people of Chingola in particular, over the tragedy at Seseli, where about 31 people, including boys, were buried alive while trying to salvage minerals at an open-pit mining site.
The mine accident happened at Cop A Seseli mine on Thursday night following a downpour which led to the earth caving in and burying the people who were working in the tunnels. By press time, the fate of the illegal miners was still unknown, with rescue workers still frantically trying to locate them.
We sympathise with families that have to endure the pain of uncertainty surrounding the fate of their fathers, sons, nephews and grandsons. Some of the victims were too young to even understand the dangers of working in the environment they found themselves in.
It has also become apparent that those buried alive ignored warnings about the downpour that night. This was clearly a disaster-in-waiting.
One of the miners who left the pit before the earth moved has revealed that his colleagues refused to leave the area when they were alerted about the rain. But all this is beside the issue now, we must now hope that the men will be pulled out alive and united with their families.
And we must now seek ways of preventing such tragic events in future. We must not skate around this issue, but must be very decisive.
The issue of illegal mining is a growing and worrying trend which must be addressed urgently.
Mining is a highly regulated industry and those who get involved are always subjected to stringent rules and regulations to ensure that accidents are minimised. These rules and regulations cannot be flagrantly abrogated without any consequence, and unfortunately the consequences can be very tragic.
We must always find ways of stopping illegality, regardless of who is involved or their excuse for involvement.
And we know that while the victims of this disaster were trying to put food on their tables, those they worked for or supplied the copper ore to are driven by greed.
These are individuals who have become rich by taking advantage of the poor; they do not follow any business ethics and will care less that a bag of copper ore came off the back of a 14-year-old boy.
Some of the off-takers are wellestablished foundries in Chingola fed by the black market for copper and scrap metal.
We understand that each tunnel at the pit where this accident happened is owned by individuals who later hire out small boys and youths to conduct mining activities on their behalf.
One of the illegal miners said people hired are paid as little as K100 while the tunnel owners sell the copper ore at K20,000 per tonne.
We, therefore, urge authorities to address this issue from its roots.
We must cut the illegal demand in order to cut the illegal mining and supply.
We must also open our eyes to other sites around the country that pose the same risk as Seseli, and prevent such disasters in future.