Release Luanshya Mine employees, under covid 19 quarantine, NDC Roan MP Joseph Chishala urges China Nonferrous Metal Mining

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By Derrick Sinjela in Lusaka

In a Tuesday 15th September, 2020 Press Statement National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) Roan Joseph Chishala pleaded with Luanshya Copper Mines PLC to set free miners illegally kept under quarantine by the Chinese Company.

Mr. Chishala, an NDC Labour Chairperson Labour appealed to Luanshya Copper Mines PLC to immediately free the miners who illegally kept under quarantine by the Chinese Company.

China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (abb. CNMC, Chinese: 中国有色矿业集团公司​) is a Chinese corporation involved with the mining of non-ferrous mineral resources.

Speaking to journalists in Lusaka, Chishala said, as Member of Parliament for Roan, he was making an earnest appeal to CNMC management to consider freeing employees kept under quarantine as their marriages are at stake as these miners have stayed for months now in quarantine leaving their wife’s and children to linger in poverty which as a result their marriages are being affected.

“As you may be aware will soon be going in to farming season and most miners in my constituency rely on farming for an extra income to feed their families. There is need to prepare the land for the coming farming season, it is practically impossible for these miners to prepare their land while being kept under quarantine,”Chishala lamented.

Chishala directed management to immediately let the employees go home and must be coming from home when reporting for work, with COVID-19 leaving under new normal the employees also require to get back to a normal life and not to be kept as prisoners.

The Roan MP is convinced that once set free the miners will follow COVID-19 guidelines as opposed to the Chinese company treating it’s employees as prisoners, in this manner, an outright infringement on employment rights.

Chishala appealed to the Labour Minister Joyce Simukoko and the Human Rights Commission to visit the mine and address this issue urgently.

“My office has received reports that some workers have also been sent on forced leave to an effect that their take home monies are being affected, I have been reliably informed that those who are being sent home are only getting basic pay, CNMC management must be aware that those miners have got loans which they are servicing, how are they going to service their loans when they are getting less than a thousand Kwacha, these are peanuts which you can’t even talk about, CNMC is the lowest paying mine in Zambia and I always wonder why this is so. I have been a miner before and during my last employment in the mines I used to get five times more than what CNMC pays their workers and yet they make a lot of money and these Chinese companies don’t even have time for social responsibility in the community,” Chishala complained.

Advised Chishala: “It’s high time CNMC calls back all those employees who are on forced leave and start operating normally.

On Friday 11th September 2020 during a 5th Session of the 12th National Assembly, President Edgar Chagwa Lungu ordered that schools and bars resume operations under strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines.

“After my office received information of management holding employees hostage I have made efforts to visit management and have a word with them but my appointment is always turned down, it’s so unfortunate that I being a member of parliament I can’t be allowed to access freely Chinese companies in my constituency to check on the welfare of workers just because these Chinese companies have always being giving brown envelopes to government officials on the expense of the poor Zambians, this nonsense must come to an end. I am aware that the Chinese company has been instructed by someone in Luanshya aspiring for the Roan seat in 2021 not to allow me to access the mines in my constituency, this is ‘stupidity’ at its best, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to who ever gave those instructions that I shall not be intimidated in my own constituency,” protested Chishala.

Chishala says as NDC led by Dr Chishimba Kambwili and Joseph’s Akafumba, after the Thursday 12th August 2021, employees rights will not be abused.

Zambia’s Population (LIVE) as at Tuesday 15th September 2020 stood at
18​,​497​,​259 while Luanshya has 113, 365 people.

The current population of Zambia is 18,485,203 as of Tuesday, September 15, 2020, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.
Zambia 2020 population is estimated at 18,383,955 people at mid year according to UN data.
Zambia population is equivalent to 0.24% of the total world population.
China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited is
Headquarters Chaowai Subdistrict , People’s Republic of China with a revenue base of 111,365,310,000 renminbi (2018),
net income of
CN¥(2,909,054,927.54) (2015), total assets are at CN¥125,535,440,783 (2015) with total equity of CN¥14,184,711,742.52 (2015).

China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited is owned by the Central Government of China, through a
parent -State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Website www​.cnmc​.com​.cn/indexen​.jsp
Footnotes / references
in consolidated basis.

China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited is managed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited is a parent company of four listed companies in China and in Hong Kong SAR; namely China Non-Ferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd., Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co., Ltd., China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited and China Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Limited.

China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited has mines in Zambia, Mongolia and Thailand, and a project in Vientiane
Laos (French) (Lao , Thai) the capital and largest city of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River near the border with Thailand.

Vientiane became the capital city in 1573 due to fears of a Burmese invasion but was later looted then razed to the ground in 1827 by the Siamese (Thai).
Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule and, due to economic growth in recent times, is now the economic center of Laos. The city had a population of 820,000 as at the 2015 Census.

China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited invests in copper, aluminum, zinc, nickel, tantalum, niobium, and beryllium.

The company was founded in 1983, mainly to carry out international engineering business.

In 2005, with the approval of the state-owned assets supervision, the company changed their name to China Nonferrous Metal Mining, led by
China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited President Mr Luo Tao and two Vice-Presidents; Qiao Zou and Jiang Hao.

China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited developments
In 2013, the company signed a deal worth US$712 million to construct a steel factory in Iran, defying sanctions imposed on Tehran by the United States (US) and European Union (EU) at that time.

As of January 2017, the China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited held talks with Gecamines, a state-owned company of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), over a copper mining joint venture.

China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia.

China is the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion in 2019.

Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million mi2), it is the world’s third or fourth-largest country by area.
Governed solely by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.