Wednesday, 3 Apr 2002

KITWE, Zambia

I started my day on a very sad note. At 8:30, I rushed to Kitwe Central Hospital to meet my friend Bernard Handima, the director of technical services for Citizens for a Better Environment. The news from the doctor who attended him is not heartening. He said Bernard was doing poorly, and gave him a long bed rest, ruling out any possibility of participation in this year’s Earth Day celebrations. The celebrations, which will begin in three weeks, include Car-Free activities in four towns in Zambia — Lusaka (the capital city), Ndola, Kitwe, and Chingola.

Water sources are running dry in Ndola.

After leaving my friend, I started on my professional business for the day. First on the agenda was a meeting with the beleaguered farmers in Ndola. They urgently need fresh water from a sustainable source — urgently, as in yesterday. And of course they desperately need compensation as well.

I headed to Ndola with Grace-Edwards Galabuz, and on the way we decided to stop in at the regional office of the Environmental Council of Zambia to see a long-time friend, Shadreck Nsongela. Shadreck is the principal inspector for northern regions of Zambia — the Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, and North-Western Provinces, a huge responsibility indeed.

Fortunately, we found Shadreck in his office. We had a lively, 20-minute discussion, and on the way out the door, picked up some Enviro-News magazines to distribute in Kitwe. Enviro-News is a quarterly magazine produced by ECZ that addresses the latest environmental issues in Zambia.

Mining near Ndola.

From Shadreck’s office, we headed for the Bwana Mkubwa Mine. I made an appointment to meet with the company secretary, Andreas Scott, next Thursday. We intend to wrap up our socio-economic survey by interviewing him and probably his general manager. It’s lucky that Scott is available on Thursday, because after that I leave for two weeks in Costa Rica, where I’ll attend the Sixth International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement. The conference, which will be held April 15-19 in San Jose, is being organized by the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Secretariat, based in Washington, D.C. The conference will bring together about 200 governmental officials and nonprofit representatives from over 130 countries.

After I arrange my meeting with Scott, I head out to see the farmers. Most of them requested more time to complete the socio-economic questionnaire Jones Likokoto and I distributed on Monday, so we agree to meet again tomorrow. Before leaving, we brief them on the plans being made by Bwana Mkubwa management to deliver piped water to the farms.

The next appointment on my schedule is a meeting with the head of Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investments Holdings, John Patterson. John just came back from London last week after negotiations with the Anglo American Corporation. As you may have heard, Anglo has abruptly pulled out of the Zambia Copper Investment. CBE is planning to take action against Anglo for its premature departure. We believe that mining is not a business like any other — not like selling sweets or shoes or other goods. Mining has serious environmental and socio-economic impacts, which ought to be carefully considered before going into business — and before pulling out. Anglo did not do this and now wants to leave us holding the bag for 70 years’ worth of environmental damage that will cost billions of dollars to clean up. At CBE, we think that’s a scandal, and we’re going to try to stop it.