Opinion / Letters
Can a Heroes Acre be excavated for minerals?
08 Aug 2022 at 07:51hrs | Views
Dear Editor,
How can Ntola villagers pay tribute to their Gallant Sons and Daughters buried at Warren Hills of Ntola during Heroes Day Commemorations that rekindles bitter memories?
NTOLA villagers in Umzingwane, Matabeleland South are furious after gold mining company, Heywood Mining pegged claims in graveyards, at a school and on their farming land without consultation.
The graves are home to the Gallant sons and daughters who suffered and were killed during the liberation struggle, and today the miner is subjecting them to suffering in their graves through dynamites and excavations. They died for freedom, land and for the right to one man one vote.
They are not at the National Shrine, but they deserve peace, respect and acknowledgement both in the local and national annals." Can the national shrine be subjected to dynamites and excavations for minerals? The answer is a big NO! why because the graves at the shrine are a symbol of sacrifice both to the departed and living. In the same token graves of the Gallant sons and daughters of Ntola village should not be subjected to dynamites and excavations.
Many of those who survived carry wounds from that past, wounds that evoke bitterness which they are struggling to assuage. The miner's activities are refreshing the wounds instead of healing them.
Ntola villagers are calling for the stop of mining activities by the miner who does not only exhibit lack of respect for the sacrifice of the buried Gallant sons and daughters but also the traditions, customs and culture regarding the dead.
How can Ntola villagers pay tribute to their Gallant Sons and Daughters buried at Warren Hills of Ntola during Heroes Day Commemorations that rekindles bitter memories?
NTOLA villagers in Umzingwane, Matabeleland South are furious after gold mining company, Heywood Mining pegged claims in graveyards, at a school and on their farming land without consultation.
The graves are home to the Gallant sons and daughters who suffered and were killed during the liberation struggle, and today the miner is subjecting them to suffering in their graves through dynamites and excavations. They died for freedom, land and for the right to one man one vote.
They are not at the National Shrine, but they deserve peace, respect and acknowledgement both in the local and national annals." Can the national shrine be subjected to dynamites and excavations for minerals? The answer is a big NO! why because the graves at the shrine are a symbol of sacrifice both to the departed and living. In the same token graves of the Gallant sons and daughters of Ntola village should not be subjected to dynamites and excavations.
Many of those who survived carry wounds from that past, wounds that evoke bitterness which they are struggling to assuage. The miner's activities are refreshing the wounds instead of healing them.
Ntola villagers are calling for the stop of mining activities by the miner who does not only exhibit lack of respect for the sacrifice of the buried Gallant sons and daughters but also the traditions, customs and culture regarding the dead.
Source - Concerned Villager
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