News / National
Local chiefs demand control of mines
25 Feb 2012 at 06:18hrs | Views
President of the Chiefs' Council of Zimbabwe, Chief Fortune Charumbira, said foreign companies were looting the country's minerals with little or no benefit to the communities and has demanded chiefs sit on the boards of mining firms in areas under their jurisdiction to ensure they bring development to their communities.
He made the remarks during a stakeholders' conference on the diamond policy organised by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in Harare on Thursday.The conference sought to solicit views from stakeholders in the diamond industry for the formulation of the Diamond Act.
"Traditional leaders must sit on the boards of mines. There should be a law forcing companies to include traditional leaders in their boards.
"The composition of current boards are still dominated by whites or their proxies," Chief Charumbira said.
He challenged the ministry to seriously consider including traditional leaders on the boards of mines.
Chief Charumbira singled out Masvingo-based Renco Mine which he said was extracting gold from Nyajena with no benefit to the community.
The Rio Zimbabwe-owned mine, in Masvingo South, is among top gold producers in the country.
"In Masvingo there is Renco Mine, which operates in Nyajena communal areas.
There are no roads at all in Nyajena. Renco Mine uses a plane to transport gold because there are no roads.
They realise 90kg (annually) of gold that they take away, but do not care about developing the community from which they are taking away the resources.
"The road is only 75km from Masvingo town," Chief Charumbira said.
This, he said, made it imperative for traditional leaders to sit on company boards and lead developmental projects in communities.
He said traditional leaders were the custodians of the country's natural resources.
Chief Charumbira said traditional leaders in Masvingo were now waiting for Government to implement the Community Share Ownership Trust to compel Renco Mine to develop Nyajena. Under Community Share Ownership Trusts, companies operating in a particular area are required to develop the communities they operate in.
Zimplats, Mimosa and Unki mines have so far launched such trusts in Mhondoro-Ngezi, Zvishavane and Shurugwi.
He made the remarks during a stakeholders' conference on the diamond policy organised by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in Harare on Thursday.The conference sought to solicit views from stakeholders in the diamond industry for the formulation of the Diamond Act.
"Traditional leaders must sit on the boards of mines. There should be a law forcing companies to include traditional leaders in their boards.
"The composition of current boards are still dominated by whites or their proxies," Chief Charumbira said.
He challenged the ministry to seriously consider including traditional leaders on the boards of mines.
Chief Charumbira singled out Masvingo-based Renco Mine which he said was extracting gold from Nyajena with no benefit to the community.
The Rio Zimbabwe-owned mine, in Masvingo South, is among top gold producers in the country.
"In Masvingo there is Renco Mine, which operates in Nyajena communal areas.
They realise 90kg (annually) of gold that they take away, but do not care about developing the community from which they are taking away the resources.
"The road is only 75km from Masvingo town," Chief Charumbira said.
This, he said, made it imperative for traditional leaders to sit on company boards and lead developmental projects in communities.
He said traditional leaders were the custodians of the country's natural resources.
Chief Charumbira said traditional leaders in Masvingo were now waiting for Government to implement the Community Share Ownership Trust to compel Renco Mine to develop Nyajena. Under Community Share Ownership Trusts, companies operating in a particular area are required to develop the communities they operate in.
Zimplats, Mimosa and Unki mines have so far launched such trusts in Mhondoro-Ngezi, Zvishavane and Shurugwi.
Source - TH
