PRESS STATEMENT
JUNE 20, 2014.
As ABZ youth we are saddened to note that foreigners mainly from China have continued to operate earth moving equipment such as graders including wheelbarrows. We feel that it is unacceptable to have this situation 50 years after independence. For instance yesterday June 19, 2014 while driving to Kalulushi in the company of our Party President Frank Bwalya (FB) we noticed that the company working on the Kitwe-Kalulushi road has brought in Chinese nationals to operate graders.
We think that there are many young people qualified to operate such equipment and if the situation is that we don’t have qualified young people then the PF government should immediately introduce crush courses to teach young people to operate such equipment. As for pushing wheelbarrows, we think that no one needs to sit on a desk to learn how to do it.
Since the PF promised to create more jobs we demand that they do something about this situation as quickly as possible to demonstrate seriousness in fulfilling the promise. We also urge the PF to continue implementing policies and projects that should create jobs especially for the majority youth.
Finally, we wish to make it clear that we are not against expatriates and foreigners in general coming to work in Zambia. What we oppose is the situation of foreigners doing jobs that we can do such as painting, welding, pushing wheelbarrows and even some white colour jobs. There are many graduates holding diplomas and degrees in accounting, human resource management, engineering and many more who are just languishing on the streets. We think that the government should take the responsibility of taking care of Zambians as a priority. Charity begins at home.
WILSON KAFUNGA
ABZ COPPERBELT YOUTH CHAIRPERSON