admin
Walter Nyamukondiwa-Kariba Bureau
To others, sanctions are a figment of the imagination, a convenient excuse by the Government for anything that does not go according to plan, but for glitter stone miners in Kariba, the effects have been really devastating.
From an industry that could employ more than 200 people with huge prospects for growth, the glitter stone industry hangs by a thread amid low prices and a closed export market.
The results, a depressed market, low prices and an uncertain future.
As a result of the sanctions imposed on the country since 2000 after the Land Reform Programme, international exports of the sought-after stone ceased.
This left the miners relying on the local market which paid relatively less for the product.
In an interview, glitter stone miner and Cheetah Mining Cooperation member Mr Francis Sixpence said a lot had changed after the turn of the millennium as prices have plunged.
“We used to export the glitter stones that we produce here in Kariba but a lot changed since 2000,” said Mr Sixpence.
“Some view things differently but what we know is that the international market dried up the moment the sanctions were introduced.”
According to Mr Sixpence, the white man they were working with encountered problems trying to sell the glitter stones and ended up quitting.
“Before leaving, he said we should form a cooperative to continue the production line while he looked at getting markets but to date it has been in vain,” he said.
The glitter stones used to be exported to the European market where they adorned high rise buildings, plush houses and swimming pools among others.
The price of glitter stones used to be as high as US$8 per square metre but the price has plummeted to around US$1 per square metre.
However, middlemen have emerged and seem to be ripping off the miners who rely on manual labour to extract the flaked stone from underground.
The miners are not benefiting from the glitter stone value chain and have called on Government to intervene and help in the establishment of markets.
“The demand and market for the glitter stones is available but we call on Government to help in empowering us so that we can also derive maximum benefit from our labour,” he said.
“Currently we barely can manage to live. We are only able to just send children to school and put food on the table but we can’t grow as an industry.”
From an establish value addition ecosystem where the naturally flaked stone is mined, cut and polished before heading to the glitzy capitals of the world, machinery now lies idle.
The polishing and cutting is now being done by middlemen who are buying the stone for a song.
“The prices are now so that it pains us when we get into Harare to discover that the stones are being sold for as much as US$15 per square metre.
The prices are just too low, said another glitter stone miner, who felt the labour involved to extract the mineral was not being properly remunerated.
Online Reporter