Online Reporter
Joseph Madzimure
Zimpapers Politics Hub
NEWLY sworn-in Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Polite Kambamura has pledged to improve the operations of the ministry for the benefit of the Government and communities at large.
Speaking after being sworn in at State House, Dr Kambamura highlighted that he will focus on adherence to Government principles and protect the communities, so that people benefit from their mineral resources.
“I am going to structure the ministry into several pillars, among them the social pillar, whereby we are going to be focusing on social investment and social development,” he said.
“We are going to make sure that our people benefit from their God-given resources. We are also going to move from corporate social responsibility to corporate investment, so that people get something, even after the mine closes.”
In most cases, he stated, when a mine closes, communities do not benefit. He also promised to come up with an economic pillar that will focus on restructuring the ministry and under which he will introduce the cadastral system and intensive exploration.
He highlighted that these are the pillars of NDS2.
“We are also going to be doing aero-magnetic surveys, so that we will be able to quantify our mineral reserves and the resources across the whole country, so that when investors come, we negotiate corporate deals on reserves that we know,” said Minister Kambamura.
He further noted that the focus will be on tying the country’s legislation to exports of minerals to avoid smuggling.
The move, he said, will assist in realising maximum export receipts, for the benefit of the nation.
Dr Kambamura said his ministry will introduce technology in the mining sector, such as smart mining, the use of drones in surveillance, the use of geological information systems, and remote sensing, to monitor environmental issues all over the country.
To reduce the unemployment rate, he said his ministry will make it mandatory that mining companies absorb students on attachment.
Turning on investors, he said his focus will be on looking at the quality of investors
“It’s time we scrutinise who is coming to invest in the country. The President said Zimbabwe is open for business, but some people have taken that to mean otherwise,” he said.
“So we want quality investors who come respecting the laws of the country, respecting the communities in which they are investing, consultation with the communities prior to mining and pegging.”
