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George Maponga in Masvingo
The Second Republic has been hailed for its wholesome empowerment of communities across Masvingo province through syndicates that will be allocated blocks to mine chrome in Mashava and provide throughput for the recently commissioned US$60 million Zimbabwe Zhongxin Smelting Company, located on the western fringes of the mining town.
Mining syndicates from all the seven administrative districts in Masvingo will be granted concessions to mine chromite in and around Mashava to provide feed stock for the smelting plant that is also set to be a game changer for hundreds of artisanal miners involved in extraction of the mineral in the mineral rich mining town.
Cabinet this week announced approval of a proposal to allocate part of chrome-rich Mashava Reservations, which is under the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, to eleven syndicates.
Seven of the syndicates will be drawn from each of the seven administrative districts in Masvingo province while three others syndicates will be for war veterans, youths and women as President Mnangagwa’s administration continues to walk the talk on leaving no one and no place in the national development agenda as Zimbabwe angles for Vision 2030.
The ferrochrome plant established by Zimbabwe Zhongxin Company was commissioned last year and has potential to generate US$88 million annually and create 200 direct jobs when operating at full throttle.
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira hailed Cabinet for the move to broaden participation of communities in the mining sector.
He noted that the move dovetailed with the Vision 2030 agenda saying all the interest groups will be incorporated into the mining syndicates.
“The President is walking the talk on his declaration that communities should benefit from natural resources that are found in their localities and we are happy that the move to constitute syndicates that will be allocated blocks in Mashava has been given the green light by Government, this really testifies to President Mnangagwa’s philosophy of leaving no one and no place behind,” said Minister Chadzamira.
“We want to make it very clear that we will make sure that all the sectors are given due consideration when constituting these syndicates that will not only cover all the districts in our province but also specifically cater for youths, women and war veterans.”
Minister Chadzamira said President Mnangagwa had proved beyond doubt that he was champion of mass empowerment of people.
“We are grateful to the President for the exemplary leadership that he continues to show through his unflinching desire to empower our ordinary people. President Mnangagwa is walking the talk on leaving no one and no place philosophy and we are indeed indebted to him as a province because our people will benefit and get a chance to participate in the economic mainstream as we continue to build our mining industry and aggregate Gross Domestic Product of our province.”
Demarcation of the mining blocks was expected to start soon with help of experts from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
“We hope that our communities will start benefiting from the rich chrome resources very, very soon and we are guided by our President who has steadfastly maintained that communities should benefit from their resources,” added Minister Chadzamira.
Two traditional leaders in Masvingo province, Chief Bere in Mashava and Chief Chiwara in Gutu had also been granted mining titles to embark on mining in reserved areas again as part of Government’s drive to broaden participation of communities in mining activities.
Chiwara Mining Syndicate of Gutu and Bere SP Mining Syndicate were given title to mine in reserved areas, a move Minister Chadzamira lauded for providing the leeway for communities in these areas to boost their incomes and transform their lives.
“We will continue to make sure that Government reserves a slice of the cake for the local communities in any endowments found in their areas be it in mining, tourism or agriculture. We are very excited by the sterling work being undertake by the Second Republic and President Mnangagwa to empower the generality of Zimbabweans,” said Minister Chadzamira.
Masvingo is rich in minerals and has vast potential for agriculture while tourism is also another low hanging fruit that can be expeditiously and easily be tapped by the province for mass empowerment of its citizens.
Online Reporter