PENHALONGA– Small scale miners in Manicaland province have appealed to government to resolve conflicts emanating from double allocation of claims.
Speaking at a workshop organized by Green Governance small scale gold miners in Penhalonga said government should intervene and provide sanity in the allocation of claims.
Green Governance is engaging small scale miners to find sustainable solutions to challenges faced by miners are operating in Penhalonga.
are up in arms against the ministry of mines in the province over double allocations of gold claims causing disputes among the miners.
Manicaland Miners Association (MMA) chairman Lovemore Kasha said corruption has reached alarming levels in the Ministry of Mines in the province, urging for superiors to intervene and restore sanity
“We are worried with corruption in the ministry of mines in the province, these days it’s now worse maybe it is because of struggling economy, we of late witnessed double allocations of gold claims.
“If you ask them why they are doing that, they will say we have gave it to brigadier or a senior government official and you are being forced to remain silent,” said Kasha.
Tendai Mandonga chairman of Penhalonga Miners Association was also critical of the ministry for failing to educate small scale miners on safety despite their overall positive contribution to gold production
He said the ministry should be proactive in educating small scale miners on safety precautions.
“We are worried with the ministry of mines in the province because they are not coming to carry out their duties, because as small-scale miners we are supposed to be educated on security safety measures because we don’t want to see the loss of lives.
“Yes, we need money but we don’t want to see the loss of lives in the mining sector, our ministry of mines officials in the province are not teaching us on safety precautions,” said Mandonga.
On double allocation, he said, “There are many disputes in the province because of boundaries issues, what happens if the ministry of mines officials fails to deal with these matters then people will start to fight causing the death of people.”
Green Governance official Trevor James addressing at the same event promised to engage the ministry of mines in the province over the allegations.
“We have noted all your points, so our next step is that we are going to engage the ministry of mines over the matter so that we can arrange a meeting with them.
“As an organization, we are there to empower citizens with knowledge, and we are going to hosts such meetings every month with small scale miners to ensure that they embrace professionalism in their work,” said James.
Manicaland provincial mining director Omen Dube mobile phone went unanswered when conducted for comment.
