Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has contributed 200 pairs of industrial work suits and an equal number of gum boots, 200 pairs of gloves and, as well as 2,500 kilogrammes of lime to four districts in which the company has operations in order to support the fight against cholera. The company has also donated 50 kilogrammes of granular chlorine to facilitate treatment of drinking water.

The company’s support has gone to four districts, namely Kitwe, Chingola, Nampundwe and Chililabombwe.

Cases of the diarrhoeal disease, which affected parts of the country, were recently recorded in Kitwe and Chililabombwe.

The value of the donated items is well close to one hundred and seventy thousand Kwacha (k170,000.00), and is intended to enhance interventions, which have been put in place by district multi-sectoral committees, in the four locations to stop the spread of the epidemic.

Commenting on the donation KCM General Manager for Corporate Affairs Eugene Chungu said: “Konkola Copper Mines is pleased to collaborate with the Government and other stakeholders to ensure the spread of cholera is curbed and also assist in restoring normal lives for Zambians following the disruptive cholera outbreak and ensure that there is no future occurrence.”

“KCM will continue to work with all stakeholders to make sure the fight against the epidemic is won and it can only be won on a sustainable basis if we all observe personal hygiene and sensitize all our neighbours,” Mr Chungu added.

Chililabombwe Mayor Christabel Mwanja Mulala hailed KCM’s efforts in promoting hygiene and preventing further spread of the epidemic.

“We are so grateful to KCM as a local authority because the intervention has helped us to contain the cholera outbreak. We have continued to put lime in pit latrines and chlorine in shallow wells as an intervention to stop the spread of cholera,” Mrs Mulala said.

KCM’s CSR focuses on Health, Education, Sustainable Livelihoods and Sport. In the area of health, the company operates two major hospitals in Chililabombwe and Chingola, as well as 14 clinics in townships and within mining locations, which provide health services to over 63,000 people, including employees and their immediate family members who receive free health services.