Zambia: Three children die in manganese mine disater
Published by MAC on 2019-01-26Source: Zambian Mining Magazine, Lusaka Times
Hot on the heels of the tragic, but distinctly avoidable, drowning of fifteen young "rat hole" miners in Meghalaya, comes news that three young children (at least one of whom was only 11 years old) have suffered a similar fate in Zambia.
The trio were allegedly working on behalf of a manganese miner, the Zambian Algamented Mineral Group, owned by South Africans and locals.
The Zambian government has now withdrawn the company's licence and ordered that the owners be prosecuted.
[See also: 14 workers die in Rwanda mine ]
Manganese mine license revoked
Evans Mumba
Zambian Mining Magazine
25 January 2019
Following the recent mine incident involving three juveniles buried alive in the Manganese mine in Samya, the Zambian government has withdrawn the mining license from the owners.
The Zambia Algamented Mineral group owners are both of a South African and Zambian nationality.
Mines Minister Richard Musukwa announced that both will be prosecuted over the death of the three boys.
Mr. Musukwa told the press in a telephone interview that a team of investigators that inspected the accident scene disclosed that the three juveniles were mining manganese for big players including Algamented minerals.
The minister who has deeply regretted the death of the three juveniles in Samfya (
Luapula province in Zambia) has sternly warned communities to desist from any form illegal mining to preserve life.
He has since urged all mining license bearers to secure their mines in the Luapula Manganese mines.
Juveniles who died in the Manganese accident, shouldn’t have been working
there -U N
Lusaka Times
22 January 2019
The United Nations in Zambia expresses its deep sorrow at the death of
three children, aged as young as eleven years old, in Zambia’s Luapula
Province on Saturday during a mining accident.
“We are profoundly saddened to hear of the death of these three children,
in circumstances where they appeared to be working in a manganese mine,”
said Ms Janet Rogan, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Zambia. “No
child should be forced to work. Child labour is preventable, not
inevitable. Every child should be free to enjoy their rights to education,
protection and recreation. Every child has the right to a childhood, and
to receive protection from unsafe environments. Children need to be
removed immediately from the worst forms of child labour and provided with
care and education.”
The United Nations family in Zambia offers its heartfelt condolences to
the families of those killed, and pledges continued support to the
Government of Zambia to improve education, child protection, labour
standards and economic development. Sustainable Development Goal Target
8.7 which provides that States take “immediate and effective measures
to…secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child
labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end
child labour in all its forms.”
UNDP, UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) work in
Zambia to improve conditions for children and young people, and enhance
labour laws, regulation and work place protection. Last week, UNODC
launched a new project in Zambia to combat trafficking in persons
including those involved forced labour and sex trafficking.