HARARE - A coal mining company has been ordered to stop prospecting in Hwange, in a case showing government policy flip-flops likely to scare away investors.Zambesi Gas, the coal mining company, was directed to cease operations of prospecting for coal at Entuba coalfields a fortnight ago by the government, despite having been granted a special permit to do so in 2007. The government granted the company a permit to prospect for coal at a 20 000 hectare piece of land at Entuba.
According to the Mines Minister, Obert Mpofu, the coal mining company was directed to stop operations because it had come to the attention of the Mines Ministry that the Mine was within the environs of the Hwange National Park, a charge that the company’s directors deny.
Mpofu also added that Zambesi Gas was ordered to cease operations because it hadnt started mining coal yet it was only granted a permit to prospect for the mineral.
“Zambesi Gas only had a permit to prospect, but not a licence to start operations. The fact that the company submitted an application did not give it permission or a right to start operations. Secondly, there are fears that Zambesi Gas is carrying out operations within the Hwange National Park territory,” Mpofu told ***The Zimbabwean.
An official at Zambesi Gas, however, denied charges by Mpofu, adding that the company had got word that the Mines Ministry wanted to grab its piece of land and allocate it to Chinese Company.
“The Mine is outside the borders, the Minister knows it. What we hear is that a Chinese company has been promised our site,” the company official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that they “are challenging the Ministry’s directive to stop operations.
No comment could be obtained from the site geologist, Constance Reid.
Post published in: Economy