The ManicaPost
| IT is common cause that diamonds mined in Marange’s Chiadzwa diamond fields must benefit locals, especially displaced villagers who were relocated to pave way for full time operations. |
We believe that the formulation of the Zimunya-Marange Community Share Ownership Trust was a conscious move meant to achieve that although miners who were supposed to play ball went rogue and never honoured their pledges.
When Government ordered all diamond mining companies in Marange to cease operations in February and pave way for consolidation under the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, many felt that a new dispensation was being ushered which would be beneficial to everyone unlike before when some of the miners looted the precious gems under the cover of darkness.
Some of the villagers who were relocated from the diamond fields to Arda Transau are a bitter lot because the previous miners who were supposed to fully compensate them reneged at the last hour. Lessons have been learnt from past mistakes and we hope that as we move forward, ZCDC will carry out its operations well and ensure that locals also benefit from what is mined at their doorstep.
Elsewhere in this issue we carry a story in which High Court Judge, Justice Davison Moses Foroma, granted a provisional order barring ZCDC from arbitrary evicting 26 families of Tinoengana Village in Chiadzwa or destroying their homesteads in the wake of expanded operations at the fields.
The families, through the Marange Development Trust, argued that ZCDC must first seek a court order before evicting them.
The affected villagers called for heavy consultation between the company and the families with the intention of ironing out issues to do with compensation before they are moved to Arda Transau.
Their cause is just and we applaud the upper court for granting the provisional order.
Besides compensating the families by way of building them new houses, clinics, schools and monetary gains, we believe that ZCDC must also employ workers from the nearby villages.
Yes, there are specialised skills that might not be found in Marange, but we believe that some of the menial jobs and semi-skilled tasks at the mines must be filled by villagers.
We applaud recent utterances by Zanu-PF national secretary for administration, Dr Ignatius Chombo, when he said Government would ensure that 80 percent of people employed at the mines are locals.
He said the party had communicated with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to implement the employment percentage ratio.
“It is disheartening to note that the local Marange community has nothing to show for the diamonds that were mined here for years. Roads are in bad shape, there are shortages of clinics and we are facing irrigation problems. We have heard your concerns and, as Government, we will ensure that 80 percent of the workers at the mines must come from surrounding villages. The prevailing situation at the mines at the moment is that we have more foreigners there and yet we have able-bodied unemployed youths in the villages who are struggling to make ends meet.
“We have told Minister Chidhakwa of your concerns and the situation will soon change. Of the number that is going to be employed at the mines, 80 percent must be locals and the remaining 20 percent will cater for foreigners,” he said.
This is the spirit that must prevail in Marange with villagers benefiting directly from the precious gems.
We, therefore, urge ZCDC to write a new chapter in Marange, which is totally different from the discord that was brought about by the previous miners and ensure that villagers who are going to be relocated elsewhere to pave way for mining be fully compensated.
Arbitrary evictions are unlawful and we are glad that the miner, ZCDC, consented to the granting of the provisional order.
We now advise those involved in the relocation exercise to start work, put all the modalities in place and ensure a smooth transfer of the families from the diamond fields to a new location.
Everything must be done in utmost good faith.
