Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
CHROMIUM (6+) has been detected in an area near Shamrock Park that had been earmarked for a residential area by Gweru City Council.
Even in small amounts, chromium-6 (Cr+6) can cause skin burns, pneumonia, complications during childbirth and stomach cancer.
Residents who had bought stands in Shamrock Park In-fill which is very close to chrome processing companies are now set to be relocated to another area as the area is reportedly highly toxic with Cr+6.
Cr+6 is used in a number of industrial processes as well as for leather tanning, chromium plating, coloured glass making and in paint pigments and inks that colour plastics and fabrics and serves as corrosion-resistant coating.
It can poison drinking water sources through discharges of dye and paint pigments, wood preservatives, chrome plating wastes, and leaching from hazardous waste sites.
Gweru City Council in 2014 sold unserviced stands in Shamrock Park In-fill which was going to be an extension of Shamrock Park suburb.
However, the local authority said residents in Shamrock Park should not panic as their houses are out of the Cr+6 range.
Shamrock Park which is opposite Mambo high-density suburb along Hamutyinei Road (Via-Mambo) is a few metres from chrome processing companies such as Zimbabwe Alloys Limited.
Speaking at the recently-held ordinary full council meeting at the town house, City of Gweru acting town clerk, Mr Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe said part of the stands in Shamrock Park In-fill are uninhabitable as the land is affected by the chemical produced by industrial processes.
“Part of the stands in Shamrock Park In-fill are inhabitable as the land is affected by Cr+6 and other chemicals produced by industrial processes,” he said.
Mr Chikwekwe said the local authority will conduct an environmental impact assessment to ascertain the chemical levels and number of beneficiaries affected.
“We can’t tell the number of people who need to be resettled because firstly, we want to carry out a mini-environmental impact assessment so that we will be able to know the number of people who would be affected and need relocation.
“Once we receive the reports on the levels of chromium from our teams, we will then start the process of identifying another land and all other processes,” he said.
City of Gweru spokesperson Ms Vimbai Chingwaramusee said some of the stands in Shamrock Park In-fill were set on the “fall” area of the industrial areas.
“A fall area is the area in which or at which dump emissions used to be dumped back then before there was a settlement.
Remember there are many chrome processing companies adjacent to Shamrock Park since the beginning of industrial operations in that area. Some of the companies are still operating whilst others have stopped,” she said.
Ms Chingwaramusee said the city then sold stands for what was supposed to be Shamrock in-fill back in 2014.
The area, she said, had not been serviced adding that no beneficiary had moved on site.
“So when we did an environmental impact assessment our health department discovered that there was soil pollution, and the land had high levels of Cr+6 which is highly toxic. So as a local authority we halted development there in a bid to assist the affected people,” she said.
Ms Chingwaramusee said the local authority is now looking for alternative land to relocate the affected residents.
“Our town planning unit is still looking for suitable land for relocation of the affected beneficiaries.
As a local authority we would like to assure the beneficiaries that we will advise them of the suitable land. In future before allocation of stands we will first do an EIA to assess any forms of pollution that might affect the beneficiaries,” she said.
With regards to the number of Shamrock Park In-fill stands that are affected by Cr+6, Ms Chingwaramusee said: “We are still to assess the impact of the pollution once we have figured it out we will inform.”
Meanwhile, Ms Chingwaramusee said the original Shamrock Park – even if it’s within the reach of some of the chrome processing companies – is safe from Cr+6.
“Shamrock Park is a safe suburb which was designed and built in consideration of the fall area between the industries and Mkoba.
The underground water in Shamrock Park is not contaminated and so they are safe.
At the fall area (Shamrock Park In-fill) we currently don’t have any boreholes because no-one had moved on the site.
Beneficiaries were waiting for council to first service the area,” she said.
Online Reporter