The company, which has plants dotted around the country, was one of the first to apply for clearance under the controversial Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in 2011. The law requires all foreign firms with an asset value of $500,000 and above to give 51 percent shareholding to locals.
The discovery of its illegal operations was made by the Environment Management Agency. It was after having toured mines in the province to check if they were in compliance with requisite statutes.
Several complaints had also been made to EMA that Chinese mining firms were causing rampant land degradation and operating in systems that hurt the environment.
Timothy Nyoka, the regional EMA Education, Information and Publicity Officer, confirmed the development adding that China-Zim had been slapped with a $5,000 fine.
It is understood that the environment body has asked police to investigate the corporation on breaches of laws that are not administered by EMA.
“We went there after reports reached us that they were hurting the environment and flouting regulations that all mining claims should follow,” said Nyoka. “They did not have papers from the ministries of Mines and Lands because the plant is on a farm. They also did not have approval from Mberengwa Rural District Council. This meant that they were extracting the mineral in a clandestine manner.”
“The chrome plant is situated on two farms, so the company owners simply approached the farm owners and paid them to operate. The RDC officials do not visit farms so they did not notice it,” said a source.
Post published in: News