Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The center for environment justice (CEJ) has urged the new dawn government to review displacement compensation evaluation guidelines in order to enable communities who face displacements receive fair, just and equitable compensations.
CEJ executive director Maggie Mwape observes that in Zambia, displacement of rural communities from their land, with little or no compensation, represents one of the negative impacts of mining investment.
Ms Mwape notes that when rural communities are displaced to pave the way for mining investment, the main loss is their land, which is both a basic necessity and the primary basis for a sustainable livelihood.
She said this during a CEJ multi- stakeholder dialogue in Sinazongwe where she heard that Chamana community of Mweemba chiefdom in Sinazongwe district, southern province, had land and housing structures evaluated between k1, 400 and k44, 500.
And officiating at the meeting, Sinazongwe district commissioner Nchimunya Siakole condemned the compensation rates that host communities in mining areas are subjected to.