Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
HWANGE residents have petitioned Parliament over some local companies that are emitting smoke from their coal-fired power plants and in the process polluting the environment and water bodies.
Concern has been raised over the level of air and water pollution as well as the destruction of major roads in the coal mining town.
The worst affected roads include the Sinamatela-Makomo Resources road, the Zambezi Gas-Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) Hwange Power Station road, and the Ingagula Suburb-Deka road which also links Hwange town and Msuna in Zambezi.
Several other roads have been damaged by trucks carrying coal around town.
Water in the Deka River is deemed dangerous for human and livestock consumption as it has turned green as a result of industrial effluent.
Greater Hwange Residents Trust (GWRT) recently convened a stakeholders’ meeting in Empumalanga suburb in Hwange during which residents implored the Government to urgently devise strategies for protecting citizens from the massive pollution caused by local coal mining companies. According to the petition addressed to the Clerk of Parliament, GWRT is requesting to appear before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
“We are a community-based civil society organisation based in Hwange. We realise that our stakeholders in the coal mining town of Hwange face some challenges arising from legislation that we consider antiqued (Pneumoconiosis Act),” read the petition signed by GWRT co-ordinator Mr Fidelis Chima
“We would like an opportunity to engage with the above portfolio committee with a view to sharing our perspective on these matters. We approach your good offices with a request to appear before the esteemed committee in this regard.”
The petition comes as residents have complained about being permanently exposed to perennial air pollution from coal mining and other industrial activities.
They said while the whole town is severely affected and in need of strategies to suppress dust and reduce air pollution, residents of Ingagula on the leeward side of ZPC’s Hwange Power Station are the worst affected and in need of urgent relocation from the affected suburb.
Residents said Hwange and other communities in mining areas are at risk and the situation is worsened by the absence of a Standards Enforcement Committee which should be established by the Environmental Management Agency in terms of the EMA Act.
According to the EMA Act, there are prescribed levels of emissions that a person or entity can produce without attracting legal action. However, such information is not in the public domain due to the absence of the Standards Enforcement Committee.
The residents complained that coal mining and processing companies were not practicing sustainable mining activities and called upon the Environmental Management Agency to enforce the Environmental Impact Assessment reports which they said are not being followed.
“The State has a duty to ensure that we are protected. Legislation gives citizens environmental rights which are also enshrined in the Constitution. For every mining activity, there should be an EIA for sustainable development to protect the environment for future generations,” said Ms Linda Mtombeni, a lawyer.
“Air pollution has a serious impact but has not been given much attention. While other forms of pollution are easily identifiable, air pollution is tricky because the effects may not be visible for many years and when we do it will be late.”
Ms Mtombeni said the Act provides for a Standards Enforcement Committee which is not there at the moment to check the quality of air and water.
“That’s the first port of call in prevention of pollution and environmental conservation,” she said. An environmentalist, Mr Thomas Mnguni, who is a community campaigner at Groundwork, an organisation that deals with environmental justice, said those who are worst affected by air pollution in the community are the elderly and children.
He said pollution is an economic burden as people exposed to it will require large amounts of money for treatment and other health interventions.
Director of Green Shango Environment Trust, Mr Daniel Sithole said while mining and power generation are necessary key pillars of economic development, there is a need for responsible players to mitigate pollution at the source, as well as dust suppression on all routes of their businesses. —@ncubeleon
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