adminBusiness Correspondent
THE Penhalonga community is calling for the opening of the DTZ-Ozgeo gold mine, whose operations were stopped in November last year following a directive from the Environmental Management Agency.
EMA closed operations at the company under the instruction that the concern first concentrated on rehabilitation programmes before resuming operations.
A provincial member of the Zanu-PF Manicaland Youth League, Cde Cleopas Samanga, said since the mine was closed, there were increasing activities of illegal gold panning.
“Most of the youths in Ward 21 which includes most of Penhalonga and Tsvingwe were employed at DTZ-Ozgeo and are now unoccupied. Most are now forced into illegal gold panning. The recent sad case of one youth, Collin Chikuni, who drowned while panning in one of the dams in Penhalonga, is a reality of the desperation of youths after the mine closed.
“Youth unemployment is already high in Zimbabwe and closing such a mine as DTZ-Ozgeo is fuelling a contentious issue.
“If it is environmental concerns, I am sure there are ways to meet the standards required without closing operations, but let us also consider development and the livelihoods affected from the closure of DTZ-Ozgeo,” said Cde Samanga.
Zanu-PF co-ordinator of Ward 21 in Penhalonga Cde Lawrence Mutambo said the company had a lot of community social responsibility programmes that were assisting orphans and the elderly in the community.
“DTZ-Ozgeo had a lot of community social responsibility programmes and we are now disadvantaged since operations were closed.
“Redwing Mine is struggling and DTZ-Ozgeo was of great importance in assisting the community to fix roads and even in the building of schools.
“Let us weigh the positive and negative before completely shutting down its operations. We are humbly appealing to the powers that be to consider our plight as Penhalonga community,” said Cde Mutambo.
In April a delegation from DTZ-Ozgeo appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment, Water, Tourism and Hospitality pleading with the committee to reverse EMA’s decision citing that it had negatively affected business.
DTZ-Ozgeo public relations and marketing manager Ms Clara Ngwenya said the company employed 500 workers, of which more than 400 are redundant but still on their payroll.
She said the remaining workers were taking part in the rehabilitation of the land and further revealed that the company had so far mined 103 hectares of land in the Penhalonga area with 86,7 hectares rehabilitated so far.
Dtz-Ozgeo is also currently setting up a diamond plant in Chimanimani where diamond deposits were recently discovered.
Ms Ngwenya said they were projecting to produce between 40 000 and 50 000 carats of diamonds every month when fully operational.
Government last week announced that its business ventures in the Development Trust of Zimbabwe will undergo thorough inspection and where necessary, a forensic audit to ensure that the country’s developmental and people empowerment targets were achieved.
The Senior Minister of State, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo, said this last week in Harare while chairing the inaugural DTZ board of trustees meeting with the new board appointed by his Excellency President Robert Mugabe.
Cde Moyo said the ruling Zanu-PF Government would prioritise delivering developmental and empowerment initiatives to the populace through accountability and transparency in the management of trusts such as DTZ.
DTZ was the brainchild of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo. Present-day DTZ has five subsidiary business units, whose shareholding structures vary.
The companies are Greencroft Coffee, Zangrida, Nuanetsi Ranch, Mutilikwe Sugar Company and Manicaland’s DTZ-Ozgeo.
The trust, whose patron is President Mugabe, was formed to ensure every province in Zimbabwe had feasible developmental projects to absorb youths and women, while building up the national economy.
Online Reporter