By RABECCA CHIPANTA –
GOVERNMENT has constituted a team to undertake a labour audit at First Quantum Minerals (FQM) to resolve local and expatriate work issues.
This follows Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo’s directive to the director general of Immigration to put in place stringent measures in the process of considering applications for renewal of conditional immigration permits, owing to the abuse of the conditional permits by some employers.
Immigration Department public relations officer Namati Nshinka said in a statement that this was in an effort to stop the apparent abuse of the permits and in a quest to finding a lasting solution to assertions that expatriates in the mining and other sectors were taking jobs at the expense of locals.
Mr Nshinka said the working group’s terms of reference  (ToR) were, among others, the Zambianisation policy, remunerations, periodic labour audits, subcontracting of foreign companies and validity period of employment permits for expatriates on conditional permits.
He said that in view of the foregoing, the working group would tomorrow undertake its first labour audit at FQM in Solwezi at Kansanshi and Kalumbila mines, respectively, with a comprehensive statement to be issued.
Mr Nshinka said the group, which consisted of members from the Government Ministries and agencies, among them, Ministry of Labour, Zambia Police, Drug-Enforcement Commission (DEC) and representatives of various mining companies under the Zambia Chamber of Mines, would be led by Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Elwyn Chomba.