Zibusiso Dlamini
HWANGE residents have called for an urgent amendment of the Mines and Minerals Act to ensure poor villagers in the coal mining area also benefit from their resources.
Villagers in the district are at loggerheads with various mining companies flocking to Hwange, particularly from the Far East.
Despite the glaring clashes and resistance by villagers, government has continued to give the mining companies special grants to prospect for the minerals.
Greater Whange Residents Trust chair Fidelis Chima has however called for a change in approach to the way the whole coal licensing process.
“Firstly, our position has always been clear, we want the amendment of the Mines and Minerals Act so that Community Share Ownership Schemes can be returned, secondly, we want that before anything is done there should be extensive consultation of the affected community,” Chima said.
“The other thing that we are advocating for the Environmental Impact Assessment has to be clear on how the process should be done and what percentage will the community benefit.”
Communities in Hwange have always complained of plundering of their natural resources by coal mining companies they accuse of causing more harm to the environment.
Communities have also over the years decried displacement from ancestral homes, pollution of water bodies, loss of livestock and sometimes human lives as the companies leave unclaimed pits.
The ruling Zanu PF party has however sided with Chinese coal mining companies. Recently, the party warned villagers, including its supporters, from protesting against and disturbing coal mining operations in Dinde.
