Nothing to show for Zimbabwean diamonds, says Chimene

Diamond mining at Chiadzwa did not benefit Manicaland Province, but brought problems like environmental degradation and potential health challenges owing to chemicals used by the miners, Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Mandi Chimene has said.

She told The Herald Eastern Edition that Manicaland had nothing tangible to show for diamonds being mined in the province. Minister Chimene said infrastructure in the province was dilapidated and needed urgent rehabilitation.

"We may have benefited as a nation, especially as some of the money was used to recapitalise different sectors of the economy, but as the custodians of the mineral, we did not get anything tangible," she said.

"Roads, schools and hospitals are in a very bad state, yet diamonds would be mined and transported to Harare without even repairing the same roads that the transporters used.

"Our provincial hospital is in shambles. Our schools do not have critical amenities, while roads are almost impassable in some parts, yet we were producing a mineral that had the potential to get the wheels of the national economy turning.

"Our people are devastated. They needed to see something tangible from the diamonds. I am also very disappointed."

Minister Chimene said companies that were extracting diamonds before the coming in of the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) last year had failed to meet the Government requirement of establishing Community Share Ownership Trust schemes.

She said only Mbada met part of the requirements.