Zambia’s lockdown lock-in
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Since recording the first Covid-19 case in March 2020, Zambia has been fighting the spread of the pandemic using various preventive measures recommended by the local ministry of health and the World Health Organisation.
But with an accumulative total of 8,501 with 241 deaths and 7,004 recoveries, as of August 12, the situation is worsening and preventive measures in the labour industry are being implemented. Among them is encouraging virtual working where nonessential workers are required to work from home. The unconventional and allegedly illegal quarantining of workers by Chinese-owned businesses during Zambia’s Covid-19 lockdown has inflamed tensions in the country and exposed a rift in how local leaders perceive relations with Chinese investors.
In their attempts to limit the spread of the coronavirus, some Chinese investors are alleged to have illegally locked up their staff at their workplaces during the lockdown, in direct contravention of guidelines from the labour ministry.
After a handful of incidents came to light, labour & social security minister Joyce Simukoko said in May that the government wouldn’t object to businesses quarantining employees if this was done in accordance with the law.
Employers, she said, need to notify the labour commissioner, set out the terms and conditions of the quarantine, get buy-in from employees or their representatives, and ensure that toilets, sleeping and eating facilities were inspected beforehand.
However, workers in the Copperbelt district of Chingola claim to have been illegally locked up during the lockdown despite such measures.
"The Chinese manager addressed us and said that we could bring the coronavirus to the workplace if we continued going home after knocking off," an employee of Big Mountain Mining tells the FM.
"We had very shallow and stinking pit latrines, our sleeping arrangement was bad because we were six or seven in a small room and no beds were provided. So we slept on the floor."
He says workers were also not provided with food. "We would send people from outside the company premises to go and buy food for us. It was just like we were in prison. There is a wall fence, so no-one would go out or escape."
The 38 workers were released after officials from the Kitwe mines occupational health department intervened. But the workers received no compensation for the two months they were locked in, says the employee.
In Lusaka Province, workers were also apparently locked in by their employers, ...
But with an accumulative total of 8,501 with 241 deaths and 7,004 recoveries, as of August 12, the situation is worsening and preventive measures in the labour industry are being implemented. Among them is encouraging virtual working where nonessential workers are required to work from home. The unconventional and allegedly illegal quarantining of workers by Chinese-owned businesses during Zambia’s Covid-19 lockdown has inflamed tensions in the country and exposed a rift in how local leaders perceive relations with Chinese investors.
In their attempts to limit the spread of the coronavirus, some Chinese investors are alleged to have illegally locked up their staff at their workplaces during the lockdown, in direct contravention of guidelines from the labour ministry.
After a handful of incidents came to light, labour & social security minister Joyce Simukoko said in May that the government wouldn’t object to businesses quarantining employees if this was done in accordance with the law.
Employers, she said, need to notify the labour commissioner, set out the terms and conditions of the quarantine, get buy-in from employees or their representatives, and ensure that toilets, sleeping and eating facilities were inspected beforehand.
However, workers in the Copperbelt district of Chingola claim to have been illegally locked up during the lockdown despite such measures.
"The Chinese manager addressed us and said that we could bring the coronavirus to the workplace if we continued going home after knocking off," an employee of Big Mountain Mining tells the FM.
"We had very shallow and stinking pit latrines, our sleeping arrangement was bad because we were six or seven in a small room and no beds were provided. So we slept on the floor."
He says workers were also not provided with food. "We would send people from outside the company premises to go and buy food for us. It was just like we were in prison. There is a wall fence, so no-one would go out or escape."
The 38 workers were released after officials from the Kitwe mines occupational health department intervened. But the workers received no compensation for the two months they were locked in, says the employee.
In Lusaka Province, workers were also apparently locked in by their employers, ...
