By MILDRED KATONGO  –
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili has directed Luanshya Municipal Council (LMC) to identify land where the more than 1,600 Luanshya Copper Mines workers who have been put on leave can engage in farming activities.
Mr Kambwili, who is Information and Broadcasting Services Minister as well as chief Government spokesperson, said as per directive from President Edgar Lungu, Luanshya Municipal Council should expedite the process.
The minister said the local authority should identify land and give five hectares to each of the miners put on leave so that they could begin farming.
Mr Kambwili said in Luanshya recently that this would help the miners engage in activities that would help them sustain their lives while waiting to be recalled by the mine management.
“President Edgar Lungu directed councils to identify land for the miners on the Copperbelt. I would like to remind the council here in Luanshya to identify land for the miners. I am giving you time up until January to identify land where our people will engage in farming,” Mr Kambwili said.
Mr Kambwili said diversifying the economy would help stop over-dependence on copper that had seen prices drop globally, thereby affecting the local economy.
He said the Government was committed to providing opportunities for people to engage in agricultural activities.
Mr Kambwili, however, said that Chenda Maunga and Maposa forests had been degazetted and land would be allocated to cooperatives and families that had settled in the area.
He said vulnerable people needed to be supported to make  ends meet, and that helping them to secure land would help them sustain their lives through farming.