Chinese mining companies associated with Zambia to prosecute Copperbelt farmers on a “environmental disaster”

Farmers in Zambia filed a lawsuit worth $ 80 billion (58.5 billion pounds) against two companies linked to China, and their blame for an “environmental disaster” resulting from the collapse of the dam that stores waste of copper mining.

The farmers in the papers of the court said that a million liters of high -incense materials in waterways in February, which led to “collective deaths” between fish, making the water uncontralable and destroying crops.

This is one of the largest environmental claims in the history of Zambia, where farmers say the spill affects about 300,000 families in the copper mining area.

The American embassy issued a health alert in August, which raised fears of “widespread pollution of water and soil” in the region.

Drilling villagers, most of whom are subsistence farmers, are dug against Sino Metals Leach Zambia and NFC Africa MININING, which are subsidiaries of state -owned Chinese companies.

A group of 176 of them submitted papers on behalf of their community in the Supreme Court in the capital of Zambia, Lusaka.

They claimed that the collapse of the waste dam – owned by Sino Metalus Lich Zambia but is located in the surface of the NFC Africa Mining surface – was caused by many factors, including engineering failure, construction defects and mismanagement of operational management.

Companies have not yet commented on the lawsuit, but Sino Metals Leach Zambia had previously said that there is a spill of about 50,000 cubic meters.

The company said in a statement on September 3.

In court papers, farmers said they knew that the water was very toxic only several days after the collapse of the waste dam.

The papers said that the health of society may be at risk, as people reported various symptoms of diseases, including blood in the urine and chest tightness.

He said that most villages have dug wells, but they were even contaminated and crops should be burned because they were not safe to consume.

They demanded that the two companies put 80 billion dollars in an account run by the Zambian government as a “security”, among other things, “environmental compensation” and “full compensation”.

The owners of petitions said that the Emergency Fund of $ 20 million must be prepared to provide “immediate and urgent” assistance to people affected by the disaster, and to implement comprehensive health and environmental assessments.

Last month, the American embassy said it had ordered the immediate withdrawal of its staff from Kitoy – the largest city in the Copperbelt region – and the nearby areas after expressing anxiety from “polluted water and soil, pollutants may become from the miraculous mines as well as air, which poses a healthy threat if it is inhaled.”

In response, the Zambian government spokesman Cornellius Motooa said that there are no longer any serious effects on public health, and there was no need to pressure the “panic button” today to warn the nation and the international community.