ZEMA taken to court for “procedural impropriety” over Lower Zambezi Mining.

As allowed by law, CAZ wrote to ZEMA in July last year to ask them to review their decision to approve copper mining inside the Lower Zambezi National Park by Mwembeshi Resources but has still not received a response. It is claimed this breaches Zambia’s environmental management laws and shows “procedural impropriety”.

In 2012, ZEMA initially rejected the proposed copper mining inside the national park on the basis that the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was not sufficient. A technical review committee agreed. Since those decisions the global copper price dropped and no one seemed interested in the mine anymore, until the copper price started climbing again more recently.

The mine proposed is an open pit mine. It involves the excavation of a large open pit or a series of pits, which are gradually deepened and expanded to extract the desired mineral. Open pit mining typically involves the use of heavy equipment, such as bulldozers, excavators, and trucks, to remove overlying material and expose the mineral deposit. Tailings storage facilities are used to store the waste materials generated from mining operations, called tailings. These waste materials, including dangerous chemicals, are stored in dams constructed near mining sites. ZEMA, in their own decision letter, wrote that the tailings storage facilities were “risky” and the “chances of failure are high”. International mining experts have reported that these proposed methods would never be allowed in other countries due to the risk of water contamination downstream. Acidic water and heavy metals and chemicals such as cyanide can leak into nearby water sources. The same water that communities in the Luangwa area use for farming and fishing not to mention drinking.

In ZEMA’s words the mine would “destroy the landscape of the park”. Supporters of the mine have relied on reasoning that it would bring local jobs. However, when we read the EIA in detail, only 300 jobs are mentioned. This equates to 0.01% of Rufunsa alone. And it isn’t even guaranteed that these jobs will be available to local people rather than foreign contractors. Not to mention that a globally important wildlife area will be threatened by pollution and destruction. The national park has been reported to provide 7,463 jobs for the local population through lodges, NGOs, DNPW, construction, transport, etc, all of which will be on the line should the park be damaged by the mine, as is forecast. It is true that some of the Lower Zambezi lodges are foreign owned, but all have Zambian staff, pay taxes in Zambia, buy supplies from Zambia, and are open to Zambians at discounted rates.

Many Zambians have signed a petition to halt the mine, demonstrating outrage, including our founding father Kenneth Kaunda who in his last months wrote a heartfelt protest against the mine. Supporters of the mine rely on a flimsy argument that this is a “Zambian mine” but there remain unanswered questions about the actual ownership of the mine which was sold after its initial rejection. The new owners are rumoured to be Chinese.

We don’t need to look far to see an example of mining gone wrong. Kabwe has been reported as “the most polluted place on earth” by experts, due to the poisoning that local children and adults suffer from because of the local mine. Now UN experts are giving evidence in court in South Africa to try to bring the mining company to justice but how many people have suffered already?

We are at risk once more of giving up our natural resources for much less than they are worth and putting our own livelihoods and health up for a quick, cheap sale. Let’s make the right decision this time, for ourselves and for our children.

https://kalemba.news/local/2023/02/16/zema-taken-to-court-for-procedural-impropriety-over-lower-zambezi-mining/