Zim's Green fuel project: Pride of the nation but the locals community mourns

CHISUMBANJE - After years of economic plunder, pillaging coupled with an uncontrollable meltdown, Zimbabwe's Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA) finally collapsed. The main business entity that brought life to the sleepy Checheche Growth Point in south-eastern Zimbabwe could no longer operate causing much suffering to the locals who had become dependent on it for survival.

In the process, vast employment and business opportunities were lost plunging hundreds of people back into the village without alternative source of living. The grief was not to last long as rumours of a new gigantic investor started filtering the whole community like whirlwind sending screams of joy for the restoration of life.

The new investor only discovered later to be Macdom Investments under the banner of Green Fuel entered into an agreement with the ailing ARDA to construct an ethanol plant at the latter's premises. The hard landing of ARDA had resulted in loss of so many opportunities that came with the presence of a key economic driving company.

The new investor brought with it promises of economic recovery, employment and community development which the locals were being deprived of since the demise of ARDA. The locals quickly appreciated the government's move to award Chisumbanje with a big investment of that magnitude. In the midst of joy, news spread like a virus, that Macdom Investments wanted to take over all the community land since the 5000ha from ARDA was not enough to match the capacity of the to-be built machine.

Confusion became rife in the community with some accepting that big projects like bio-fuel business will bring more benefits than the small pieces of land to be lost. Some were convinced that they were being treated unfairly. Cheap fuel to the community and the country at large, eco-friendliness and ability to generate employment formed part of the strong points scored against the vulnerable locals who saw perennial hunger and poverty looming.

Promises of small irrigation plots were heard but no one from the company or any of its representatives was available to substantiate the fact. The idea appeared noble since drought and hunger had taken root in the community. Many thought a saviour had come in the form of Green Fuel and no reasonable human being would turn down such a God-given privilege.

Pressure mounted from all angles for the locals to accept the coming of Green Fuel as a key development in the area. Determination to remain masters of their own destiny won the contest and the locals continued to fight for their land. They resolved to fight for justice and never to accept a plan that was not mutually beneficial. The company and former land owners ARDA were communicated differently further complicating and reducing the whole issue into some episodic drama.

The project scored reasonable points against a hostile community but along the way lost some valuable marks because in the midst of proving their worthiness, sad scenes never stopped playing out in the community. After the machines started turning, villagers woke up to the news that livestock, fish and frogs had died in one of the local rivers where the wastes from the giant infrastructure were being disposed into.

Firstly the company prioritized people from other districts ahead of locals in employment opportunities. This angered the locals who lost trust in the capacity of the investor to help them overcome an almost ominous poverty. The company had promised that in return for lost land locals would prioritized for employment opportunities.

In addition the investor is not forthcoming in terms of helping resolve some of the community problems like assisting schools and clinics in meet their goals in the face of limited resources. This portrayed an investor who is only concerned in amassing wealth without giving back to the community.

No proper consultations were made between the company and the community leadership which includes chiefs, headman, Member of Parliament and Councillors and this has led to confrontational scenarios.  Green Fuel's lack of basic communication procedures shrouds the whole investment into clouds of suspicion.  Up to date no one from the local community and Zimbabwe at large really understands what the company intends to do and how it operates.

This has reduced the value and trust local communities had on the investor giving the latter a mammoth  task to make sure that it convince the locals to share the same goal and agenda so that they work together to ensure that the relationship is mutually beneficial typical of that of its predecessor.

Claris Madhuku is the Director of Platform Youth Development, a youth oriented organisation that advocates for economic empowerment of marginalised groups