WE’RE WORKING ON MODALITIES TO KICK START MINING ‘INDABA,’ SAYS MUSUKWA

By SILUMESI MALUMOWE are engaging Ministry of Finance to put in place logistics to kick start the mining “indaba,” Minister of Mines and Mineral Development, Richard Musukwa has said.Mr Musukwa said the genesis of the “indaba” was for the government to engage mining houses and appreciate the challenges they were facing.The minister said, “I have been having discussions and the Minister of Finance has assured me that what you are going to see is a system of rewarding these mines operating in Zambia.”He said in an interview recently that mining houses that were investing millions of dollars needed to be given incentives especially when they were facing numerous challenges during their operations.Mr Musukwa said, “These are the ones creating a number of jobs and when they are facing challenges with their operations the govern-ment need to come in and help.”He said the complaints which had been aired by the mining houses for years now should therefore be resolved at this platform.Mr Musukwa said the mining houses were creating employment and bringing huge investments in the country therefore there should be a win-win situation.He said Government would always endeavour to undertake measures that were conducive to the investors in order for them to continue operating.Mr Musukwa said it was prudent that mining houses operate in a good environment because they were critical to the country’s economy.