MINIAL Societies linked to China in Zambia have continued farmers in the copper belt on the “ecological disaster”
Zambia farmers have filed a trial of $ 80 billion (58.5 billion pounds sterling) against two companies related to China, accusing them for an “ecological disaster” caused by the collapse of a dam which stored waste from copper.
Millions of highly acidic materials spread in the navigable waterways in February, leading to “mass deaths” among fish, making water unknown and destroying cultures, farmers said in court documents.
It is one of the largest environmental proceedings in the history of Zambia, the farmers claiming that the spill affects around 300,000 households in the copper region.
The United States Embassy published a health alert in August, which raises concerns of “generalized water and soil contamination” in the region.
The trial opposes the villagers, who are mainly subsistence farmers, against Sino Leach Zambia and NFC Africa Mining metals, which are subsidiaries of public Chinese companies.
A group of 176 of them filed documents on behalf of their community of the high court of the capital of Zambia, Lusaka.
They allegedly alleged that the collapse of the residue dam – belonging to Sino Metals Leach Zambia but located in the surface of the NFC Africa Mining – was caused by many factors, including engineering failures, construction defects and operational mismanagement.
Companies have not yet commented on the trial, but Sino Metals Leach Zambia had previously declared that there was a spill of around 50,000 cubic meters.
“The release and violation of residues were quickly under control in the hours following the detection,” the firm said in a statement on September 3.
In court documents, farmers said they learned that water was very toxic only several days after the residue dam had collapsed.
This had put the health of the community in danger, people reporting various symptoms of diseases, including blood in the urine and the waterproofing of the chest, the newspapers said.
Most of the villages had dug wells, but even they were polluted and the crops had to be burned because they were dangerous for consumption, the petitioners said.
They demanded that the two companies put $ 80 billion in a Zambian account managed by the government as “security” for, among other things, “environmental compensation” and “complete compensation”.
An emergency fund of $ 20 million should also be set up to provide “immediate and urgent” assistance to people affected by the disaster and to carry out in -depth assessments of health and the environment, the petitioners said.
Last month, the United States Embassy said that it had ordered the immediate withdrawal of its Kitwe staff – the largest city in the copper belt region – and neighboring areas after having expressed their concern beyond “contaminated water and the soil, contaminants of the residue of spilled mine can also become aerial, pose a threat to health if they were inhaled”.
In response, the spokesman for the Zambian government, Cornelius Mweetwa, said that there were no more serious implications for public health, and that there was “no need to press the” panic button “today to alarm the nation and the international community”.
