Kasukuwere evicts miners

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.