Zambia implements a US$ 65.6 million Mining and Environmental Remediation project
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By Derrick Sinjela
ZAMBIA has commenced implementing a five year World Bank funded USD 65.6 million project on mining and environmental remediation, through the Zambia Mining and Environmental Remediation and Improvement project (ZMERIP) seeking to reduce environmental health risks to the local population.
The project spearheaded by municipal authorities in critically polluted Chingola, Kitwe, Mufulira and the lead exposed areas of Kabwe is building Mines Safety Departments countrywide and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) regulatory capacity in the extractive industry.
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In Kabwe, Central Province, the Zambia Mining and Environmental Remediation and Improvement project will involve Blood Lead Level (BLL) testing of affected children and subsequent treatment and provision of food supplements.
“The project has three major components which focus on remediation of contaminated hotspots and improvement of environmental infrastructure, enhancing institutional capacity for environmental governance and compliance, and reducing environmental health risks through localised interventions.
British High Commissioner to Zambia Nicholas Woolley with Mines Minister Richard Musukwa
The Government has in the past implemented interventions to remedy the impact of mining on the environment. One such example is the Copperbelt Environmental Project (CEP) which closed in 2011,” read a Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) newsletter.
Rehabilitation and development of environmental infrastructure in affected areas includes the Kabwe Canal and the proposed Engineered Sanitary Landfill and clean-up of contaminated hotspots Kabwe, Central Province previously called Broken Hill town, supervised by Mines Minister Richard Musukwa.
The Zambian Government has in the past implemented interventions to remedy the impact of mining on the environment, like the Copperbelt Environmental Project (CEP) closed in 2011, to name but one.
