The company, a joint venture between Chinese conglomerate Shandong Taishan Sunlight and Old Stone Investments, an obscure local company linked to senior Zimbabwe National Army officers, is one of the 20 companies controversially issued with special grants to explore and extract coal-bed methane gas in the area.
Villagers who spoke to The Zimbabwean last week said the much-touted coal project had proved to be a double tragedy for the villagers. “Since this company started operating in our area, a lot of vegetation, flora and fauna has been destroyed. The mining activities are also chasing away wild animals,” said Christopher Ncube, a village head in the area.
Ncube said the Chinese were also forcing locals to work for long hours for meagre wages, some of them as low as $80 per month. “When this project started some of us resisted but gave in after being convinced that the project would bring employment and other benefits to the local community. Now, two years later, there is no development. In fact most of the local youths who were employed have now deserted the company due to harassment, ill-treatment and slave wages,” said Ncube.
A former worker at the company, who refused to be named for fear of victimization, described working conditions at the company as archaic and oppressive.
“I was dismissed from work when I got injured while working. Most of the workers do not have protective clothes and it is even worse during the rainy season when we are forced to work without rain coats,” he said.
The chairman of the Gwayi Intensive Conservation Area, Mark Russell, said his association was concerned by the ongoing Chinese operations.
“Our business has been greatly affected by the mining activities in the area. We still maintain that wildlife has more generational and economical value than coal-mining. Coal mining destroys the environment .It also causes siltation of rivers in addition to poisoning of water sources” said Russell.
China Africa’s managing director, Retired Colonel Charles Mugari, said the company did not care about what stakeholders were saying. “The fact that the Environmental Management Authority has certified our operations means that we are conducting our business above board. We know the people who are vocal about this project and we will not lose sleep over this,” he said.
Post published in: News