dyton mupawaenda
George Maponga–Masvingo Bureau
Villagers in Charumbira communal lands and a local mining company are at loggerheads over the illegal extraction of limestone in the Ruvuli mountain range area, what the company calls prospecting, a development that has sparked fears of environmental degradation and pollution.
The villagers recently staged a demonstration at Manjiva village in Charumbira, close to Maripanda Mining Syndicate’s illegal mining site and promised to block the company from continuing with operations.
The demonstration was peaceful.
Villagers demanded that Maripanda, which admits it is not yet licensed to mine, should immediately stop all mining activities and reclaim the huge craters that have been sunk by the miner near the foot of Ruvuli mountain range, which falls under the mineral-rich Manyama area.
When The Herald visited the area, angry villagers accused Maripanda of extracting limestone at night, without benefiting the community and without paying taxes to the Government.
There were hundreds of bags packed with limestone near one of the illegal mining shafts, with villagers saying the mineral was awaiting collection to an unknown destination by Maripanda Mining Syndicate officials.
A team of police officers visited the area and saw first-hand the illegal mining activities taking place in Charumbira.
Villagers said what disappointed them the most as that Maripanda officials had not bothered to engage them or the local traditional leadership to share their plan.
Mr Vengesai Cheure from Matingwina 10B under Charumbira said they will not allow Maripanda to continue mining illegally.
“They mine at night and have no documentation to show they are operating legally. The huge pits they have dug to extract limestone are a danger to our livestock and children,” he said. “Authorities must stop these people because they have not even engaged our traditional leaders including Chief (Fortune) Charumbira as per the norm.
“This mountain (Ruvuli) is sacred according to the Charumbira traditions and customs and it is wrong for the company to conduct mining activities without holding a cleansing ceremony.”
Mrs Anna Zisheche from Majaka village said they will not leave their ancestral land to be plundered by unknown people.
“These people mine at night and do their things covertly. If they are genuine, why are they afraid of sitting down with us and sharing their plans. We are not benefitting from their activities as locals and neither is Government,” she said.
“We are satisfied with the farming activities that we are doing here, enabling us to look after our families and as you can see, this area has good soils. If Maripanda wants to mine here they must engage us like responsible investors so that we exchange views.
“They cannot just come into our area at night and start mining. Besides issues of pollution, they are also digging pits on our agricultural land. They have not even bothered to tell us where they will resettle us and how.”
Maripanda representative, Mr Ephraim Mudzungudzi, conceded that they were operating illegally, but said his firm will compensate all families whose land was degraded by their activities.
“We accept that everything is not right and we will approach the traditional leaders here. We have plans to cede shareholding to locals and pay full compensation to those affected,” he said. “We are just prospecting as of now and we are in the process of getting an environmental impact assessment.”
Mr Mudzungudzi promised that his company would also allocate 5 percent shares each to villagers and traditional leaders, if they hit a commercial limestone find, paving way for full-scale mining.
Online Reporter