LUSAKA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Zambian government official said plans to revitalize the mining sector have started bearing fruits and the sector was now back on its feet.
Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe said the government has breathed a new lease of life in the mining sector which had collapsed and affected the entire economy.
"It is clear that the depressed mining sector had reflected on the whole economy. When we were coming in power, the whole economy was in the negative because the mining sector, which is a major contributor of economic activities, was in the ICU (intensive care unit)," he said when he appeared on a live interview on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, the state broadcaster, Sunday evening.
He said the revival of the sector was due to the various intervention measures put in place by the government in the past two years such as doing away with court cases where some mining firms had dragged the government to court.
According to him, the measures have seen major mining firms that were on the verge of leaving the country reinvesting, adding that the prospects for the country's mining were bright.
The government, he said, was working tirelessly to ensure that the mining sector was on a sustained path of growth, adding that the recently launched countrywide mapping exercise to ascertain the country's mineral wealth, was another step being taken in rejuvenating the sector.
The geological mapping was being undertaken within the country's legal framework and it would help the country have a clear picture of its mineral wealth as well as attract more investment in the sector, the official stressed, adding that apart from creating direct jobs, the revitalization of the sector will also bring indirect jobs through suppliers and contractors to the sector.
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema last week said the reconstruction of the mining industry was good for the economic prospects of the country through wealth and job creation. ■