INFORMATION on the existing empowerment fund programs for small scale miners should be well published to ease accessibility, Small Scale Miners Association president Kelvin Tembo has said.
Mr. Tembo told The Scoop that Zambia’s mining sector has continued to face financial challenges especially for artisanal and small-scale miners.
He stated that empowering small-scale miners could lead to increased production, thereby growing the economy.
Mr. Tembo said that there was limited information on how or where the empowerment funds for artisanal miners could be accessed and that had led to many young people venturing into illegal mining activities.
“The value chain that comes from small-scale miners’ operations also benefits the nation at large, which is why small-scale miners need to be adequately supported. If as a nation we are able to empower the farmers, why can we empower small scale miners.
In the last year’s budget, we had K 50 million set aside to empower the small-scale miners but it becomes extremely difficult for people of this sector who are less literate to access such funds because there is a lot of bureaucracy,” Mr. Tembo said.
He noted with displeasure that the process to access the funds was cumbersome and that the targeted beneficiaries could not afford it.
Mr. Temboappealed to the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development to consider collaborating with some associations that have direct contact with the small-scale miners to ensure that programmes put to empower them were actually utilized.
He said that through collaborations the associations could easily educate and sensitize the small-scale miners on the proper way to access the empowerment funds.