Kitwe, Zambia (AP) – authorities and the environment In Zambia Fear of the long -term effect of acid spill in a Chinese owned Mines that pollute a major river can affect millions of people after the signs of pollution are discovered at least 100 km (60 miles) in the direction of the river.
The spill occurred on February 18 when a waste damaged with acid waste from a copper mine in the north of the country collapsed, according to the investigators of the Engineering Foundation in Zambia.
The Engineering Corporation said that the collapse allowed about 50 million liters of waste that contains concentrated acid, melted solids and heavy metals to flow into a stream linked to the Cavio River, the most important waterway in Zambia.
“It is a truly ecological disaster with severe consequences,” said Chilicoa Mumba, an environmental activist who works in Copperbet County in Zambia.
China is the dominant player In copper mining in Zambia, the country of South Africa, which is among the 10 best producers in the world for copper, and is a major component of smartphones and other technology.
Zambian President Hakindi Hishilima called for the help of experts and said that the leakage is a crisis that threatens people and wildlife along the café, which is going through more than 1500 km (930 miles) across the heart of Zambia.
The authorities are still investigating the extent of environmental damage.
A river died overnight
The Associated Press correspondent has visited parts of the Kafue River, where dead fish can be seen as washing on the banks about 100 km (60 miles) from the singer-runs leach zambia, owned by the majority of the China-run metal industry group.
The Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation said that the “destructive consequences” also included the destruction of crops along the banks of the river. The authorities are concerned that the groundwater will be polluted as mining waste leaks to the ground or transferred to other areas.
“Before February 18, this was a vital and vital river.” “Now everything has died, it is like a completely dead river. I do not believe. Overnight, this river died.”
About 60 % of 20 million people in Zambia live in the Cavio River basin and somehow depends on it as a source of fishing, irrigation of agriculture and water for the industry. The river supplies drinking water with about five million people, including in the capital, Lusaka.
The acid leakage in the mine caused a complete closure of water supplies to the nearby city of Kitoy, habitat of an estimated 700,000 people.
Attempts to decrease damage
The Zambian government deployed the air force to drop hundreds of tons of lime in the river in an attempt to confront the acid and wrapped the damage. Speed boats were also used to ride up and down in the river, and the application of lime.
Government spokesman Cornellius Moutoa said that the situation was very dangerous and that Leach Zambia Sino-Meetals would bear the costs of the cleaning process.
Zhang Beyne, Chairman of the Sino-Meetals Leach Zambia, met with government ministers this week and apologized for acid spilled, according to a copy of his speech at the meeting issued by his company.
He said: “This catastrophe has succeeded in a great warning to the Chinese difference and the mining industry.” “Everything will come out to restore the affected environment as quickly as possible,” he said.
Resentment with the Chinese presence
The environmental impact of large mining interests in China In the parts rich in minerals of AfricaWhich includes the neighbors of Zambia Congo Zimbabwe is often criticized, even because minerals are decisive to the economies of countries.
Chinese -owned copper mines have been accused of ignoring safety, employment and other regulations in Zambia, as they strive to control its critical metal supplies, which leads to some discontent of their existence. Zambia is also burdened With more than $ 4 billion from debt to China She had to restructure some of its loans from China and other countries after failing to pay in 2020.
A smaller leakage of acid waste was discovered from another mine -owned mine in the copper belt in Zambia days after the Chinese metal accident, and the authorities accused the smaller mine of trying to hide it.
The local police said that a mine worker died in that second mine after falling into the acid and claimed that the mine continued to work after instructing him to stop his operations by the authorities. The police said that two Chinese mines were arrested.
Both mines have now stopped their operations after orders from the Zambian authorities, while many Zambians are angry.
“It is really a really neglect of the neglect of some investors when it comes to environmental protection,” said MWEENE Himwinga, the environmental engineer who attended the meeting that participated in Zhang, government ministers, and others. “They don’t seem to have any concern at all, that is, at all. I think this is really worrying because at the end of the day, we are like a Zambian people, (it’s) the only land that we have.”
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Zimba mentioned from Lusaka, Zambia.
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AP Africa News: https://appnyws.com/hub/africa
