via Kasukuwere evicts miners – DailyNews Live by Xolisani Ncube 17 OCTOBER 2013
Fifteen gold miners in Mashonaland Central province are protesting Environment, Water and Climate minister, Savior Kasukuwere’s decision to evict them from their operations.
The gold miners, who say they were given permission by the ministry of Mines and have environmental impact assessment certificates from the Environmental Management Agency, were told to stop mining on the banks of the Mazowe River by the minister.
This was after Kasukuwere toured the river and accused them of using chemicals that pollute the river.
“That is unacceptable,” Kasukuwere said.
“This nation cannot be destroyed under our watch. It would be wrong to handover this country to the next generation when it no longer has rivers and their tributaries.
It does not matter where one comes from,” he said during the briefing.
But Edzayi Kufandarerwa, Zimbabwe Miners Federation president, claimed Kasukuwere’s order was likely to slash gold production in the country saying a significant portion of the country’s gold sector comes from small-scale miners.
“Currently, most mining firms have stopped operating and some of them have invested heavily into the projects,” Kufandarerwa said.
He said his organisation has approached the ministry of Mines for assistance in stopping the evictions.
Fred Moyo, deputy minister of Mines, told the Daily News that he has been approached by the federation and was hopeful that an amicable solution would be found.
“I told them to comply with the environmental requirements, but if the situation does not change, I will have to check with our technical team for a way forward,” Moyo said.
COMMENTS
Hey guys the cobras mambas at the snakepit will love eating this Fat criminal pig at our new chikurubi
The personification of destruction says This nation cannot be destroyed under our watch?
Now that you voted with your feet …Taken for a ride.
For once, I agree with Minister Kasukuwere. Gold panners destroy the environment and therefore they should be stopped.
You cannot jump to conclusions from just a “tour of the river”!! The pollution claim needs to be factual with proper analysis of water samples and determination of violation of set standards, with culprits identified and corrective measures taken. Kasukuwere is known for hunting flies with an axe and causes mayhem wherever he goes!
Kasukuwere is right, in as much as we may need gold but we can not have it at the expense of such an inheritance which was handed over from generation to generations. We have game such as elephants and lions because our forefathers left them for us to inherit
I fully agree with you Bruce on this one. Sometimes we really need to thing beyond the next day or two years and consider the impact in a decade, 5 decades etc. This was the correct move
Am impressed by the tough stance taken by kasukuwere. We cannot just watch the destruction of our country. The whole country supports u in this mr kasukuwere. Pliz dont look back