LUSAKA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Mining firms in Zambia on Thursday denied reports that the sector was being subsidized by domestic consumers in electricity payments.
The Zambia Chamber of Mines, an organization that represents the interest of foreign mining firms operating in Zambia, said the claims were wholly untrue.
Nathan Chishimba, the president of the organization, said figures provided by the country's power utility Zesco shows that the mining industry accounts for 80 percent of the firm's revenues, with the rest coming from other electricity consumers.
He wondered how small revenue contributors could be subsidizing the major contributor.
Mining firms have come under attack of paying less for electricity despite consuming about 50 percent of the generated electricity in the country.
"In fact, the mining industry's contribution to Zesco's revenues (80 percent) is proportionally much larger than its consumption (55 percent) of national energy production. This is certainly not indicative of an industry that is being subsidized-indeed the opposite would seem to be true," Chishimba said in a statement.
