ILLEGAL mining is risky and dangerous as evidenced by the high rate of deaths recorded in the undertaking. Many lives have been lost in this dastard activity, which otherwise appears to be lucrative.

In Kitwe yesterday, another sad tale was recorded when eight illegal miners died on the spot. This was when the underground tunnel collapsed on them as they were digging minerals believed to be copper and cobalt deposits at a slug dump.

It is sad that the illegal miners do not learn from past experience when others have died in sad and heart-rending circumstances.

In January this year, three illegal miners died in Chingola when the disused mine they were quarrying collapsed and buried them. The three were only discovered after two days.

Last year in June two youths died, barely a week after another illegal miner died when loose ground collapsed and trapped him. In September the same year, a 26-year-old illegal miner died at Mopani Copper Mine (MCM) slug dump when the tunnel collapsed.

Statistics abound, but one wonders why this sad phenomenon has continued unabated.

While it is appreciated that some youths and other people resort to such an undertaking to raise money for their livelihood, it should also be borne in mind that settling for an illegal activity is not the right recourse to address lack of income.

At one point, Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) engaged the illegal miners in Chingola to try and resolve the problem. It however, appears that such an important effort on the part of the mining company had not borne fruit.

All this could be blamed on the illegal miners themselves because what they are engaged in is unlawful and therefore the Government nor any other organisation can introduce safety measures for an outlawed activity.

Perhaps, one of the measures could be to cordon off the dumpsites and other areas so that the illegal miners cannot have access to the unsafe areas. This seems expensive because such areas are vast, but it could surely keep people away.

The other remedy worth introducing is an education campaign among communities in the mine and surrounding areas on the dangers of excavating in protected areas.

We hope that mining companies, the Government, members of the community in mine areas and other stakeholders can come together and put up a vigorous education campaign to stop illegal mining.

Some of the people dying in these death traps are breadwinners and as such others should be dissuaded and advised to engage in genuine business enterprises.