Vusumuzi DubeRutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
FACED with a possible danger of catastrophes in their course of work, small scale miners in the southern region of the country have set up rescue teams that are currently undergoing training at the Zimbabwe School of Mines that will see them being equipped with first aid and basic rescue skills.
Thirty-six rescue team members drawn from Matabeleland North, South and parts of Midlands are undergoing the training that has been organized by the Zimbabwe Mining Safety, Health and Environment Council (ZIMSHEC) in partnership with the Zimbabwe School of Mines and Zimbabwe Environment Lawyers Association.
While several tragedies and catastrophes have claimed lives with the recent Bucks Mine disaster claiming seven lives, the need for safety in the mining sector can never be undermined.
Deputy Director of ZIMSHEC Mr Philimon Mokuele said lives were being lost in small scale mines due to lack of rescue expertise. He further highlighted the constraints the sector faces in proto teams with the region depending on only three rescue teams.
“As ZIMSHEC we organized this training and partnered with School of Mines and Zimbabwe Environment Lawyers Association (ZELA) who are our funders. As ZIMSHEC we felt that most small-scale miners face accidents in their mining areas but fail to rescue because of lake of expertise in rescuing. The only rescue teams that we have in this country are from commercial miners for example in Matabeleland region as a whole we only have three rescue teams,” said Mr Mokuele.
He further said the efforts are in line with the formalization and growth of the sector.
“We saw it fit for us as small-scale miners since we are formalizing and growing and also taking mining as a business to be involved in part of these trainings. We also realized that it was going to be difficult for us small scale miners to pay for this rescue training that is why we partnered with organisations like ZELA. This is the first time we having small scale miners taking it upon themselves to have rescue teams so that when we are having accidents, we do it ourselves before calling bigger players to come and assist. So far, we have 36 people from 3 provinces which are Matabeleland North, South and parts of Midlands,” said Mr Mokuele.
Search and rescue teams are first responders trained to use special equipment and training to respond to disasters. Their primary focus is to use their abilities to rapidly locate and extricate trapped victims and ensure their safe removal from danger. -@nyeve14
Online Reporter