The environmental and human rights disaster in Zambia, one that exposes children to toxic lead poisoning, demands immediate and decisive action.
Development Diaries reports that the revelations in the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Poisonous Profit: Lead Waste Mining and Children’s Right to a Healthy Environment in Kabwe, Zambia, are a damning indictment of both corporate greed and governmental negligence.
We understand that over 95 percent of children near the former Kabwe mine have elevated blood lead levels, with half in urgent need of medical treatment.
This is not just data; it is a humanitarian crisis. The long-term effects of lead exposure include irreversible brain damage, severe developmental issues, miscarriage, and even death.
Yet, despite this glaring health emergency, the Zambian government has facilitated further toxic mining activities instead of prioritising the safety and well-being of its people.
Zambian authorities have issued mining licences to foreign and local companies despite clear violations of environmental and mining laws.
The Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has failed to enforce critical regulations, including the publication of environmental impact assessments and the suspension of operations that pose a danger to public health.
Meanwhile, piles of hazardous waste continue to be transported across Kabwe, spreading contamination further.
President Hakainde Hichilema’s promises to establish a government committee to address this crisis, first in 2022 and again in 2024, have amounted to nothing.
The government must move beyond rhetoric and take concrete steps to protect Kabwe’s residents, as continued inaction will only perpetuate this cycle of suffering and injustice.
Development Diaries calls on the Zambian government to halt all mining, removal, and processing of lead waste in Kabwe until thorough environmental and health risk assessments are completed.
We also urge the government to penalise companies violating environmental and labour laws, ensuring accountability for their reckless endangerment of public health.
Source: HRW
Photo source: HRW
