Chinese construction company, CICO construction

LABOUR and Social Security Minister, Fackson Shamenda has directed the labour office in Livingstone to submit a detailed report on the death of two people engaged by a Chinese construction company to dig a trench.
Mr Shamenda ordered his officers to submit the report within a week so that the cause of the accident could be established.
The two, Chishimba Mukuka aged 30 and Morris Namambo, who was 28 years old, died when a four-metre deep trench caved in and buried them, leaving one critically injured.
Mr Shamenda said it was unfortunate that similar accidents were being reported in the construction and mining industry.
“So officers let’s have this report by next week so that we know what could have caused this accident. It is unfortunate that we have had a lot of these accidents especially in the construction and mining industry, not only here but also on the Copperbelt Province,” Mr Shamenda said.
He said the Government had raised a lot of safety concerns in the construction and mining industries.
“It is unfortunate that such a tragedy has happened. We have raised safety and precaution measures with both employers and employees and it is time we took remedial measures,” he said.
Mr Shamenda advised companies in the construction industry to submit their profiles to the labour offices across the country and also ensure they were registered under the Workers’ Compensation Board.
Mr Shamenda said company profiles would help screen firms, especially those operating in the construction industry to lessen the number of accidents.
He said this in Livingstone on Wednesday after visiting the survivor of the accident, Obvious Mukoya, 25, who was at Livingstone General Hospital receiving treatment.
The three, who were all working for a Chinese construction company, CICO construction, were digging a trench to lay new pipes for the Southern Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO).