Category: zimbabwe

Source: Proposed raids on grain farmers raises stink – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY KUDAKWASHE TAGWIREYI
GOVERNMENT’S recent decision to use soldiers and police to seize grain from farmers has triggered ructions in the farming community.

In a memo last week Lands and Agriculture ministry secretary John Bhasera instructed Grain Marketing Board (GMB) chief executive Rockie Mutenha to operationalise provisions of Statutory Instrument (SI) 145/19 to avert side marketing of grain.

Reacting to the memo, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Shadreck Makombe said: “There is nothing like side marketing for those who independently grew their grain because they would have financed their farming activities. These farmers must make independent choices on where to sell their grain to as government’s decision is curtailing their freedom to make independent choices.”

Makombe said SI 145/19 which bars movement of grain would make it difficult for people to assist their relatives who need grain in different parts of the country as this would be viewed as committing a crime.

“This policy should have been implemented on those who produced their grain through contract farming. Of course those doing side marketing should be disciplined, but what about independent farmers,” he added.

Zimbabwe Farmers Union president Paul Zakariya, however, said for those who were contracted by GMB there was no deprivation of freedom because they were contracted.

“You surrendered your freedom when you signed the contract and collected the inputs promising to deliver grain at the end. This is a contract hence there is no need for the army and police to intervene in order to deal with deviant farmers,” he said.

Over the years, some farmers have been reluctant to sell their grain to GMB due to low prices, preferring to sell on the black market where foreign currency is offered.

Agricultural economist Rukani Mandivamba said government should negotiate with farmers on a 50% part payment for grain in US dollars.

“I think the issue has been about pricing. I hope government will review the prices to 50% payment in forex because it would cost the country US dollars anyway to import grain. It’s a win-win situation for both and government and farmers,” Mandivamba said.

Economist Victor Bhoroma said GMB’s monopoly on maize sales was killing the market, especially small-holder farmers, leading to rent-seeking behaviour.

“Well, the challenge we have with the GMB monopoly on maize is that it kills market access for small-holder farmers, dents viability, creates inefficiencies in the economy and leads to rent-seeking behaviour by those with access to GMB or authorities,” Bhoroma said.

“Pricing for any agriculture commodity needs to be set by growers or be determined in an open market such as the commodity exchange. Anything else will lead to decline in production and food insecurity. GMB cannot set a competitive price, pay for the grain on time and efficiently.  History will tell you. Millers cannot operate through buying from GMB as long as the price is above market price,” he added.

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Source: Chinese mine blasts irk Epworth residents – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY TAPFUMANEI MUCHABAIWA
SCORES of residents in Epworth’s Rockview and Adelaide suburbs have protested over blasting by a Chinese company, Gumtree Mining, accusing it of disturbing their peace through air and water pollution.

The residents also complained that blasting by the company might end up causing their houses to develop cracks.

“The company is causing a lot of destruction to our structures in the area, posing a great risk of a number of hazards. For instance, we are using septic tanks in the area and the blasting might affect them and our water sources could get contaminated. This is a ticking time bomb,” Rockview resident Clever Jiyamwa said.

Another resident, who requested anonymity, said the blasting was taking place about a kilometre away, but its impact could be felt by residents through shaking of their houses.

Despite the complaints by residents, Epworth Local Board town secretary Wilton Mhanda said the Chinese company was operating within the law.

Mhanda said: “We received these complaints soon after the mine began operating in 2020, but we engaged the Mines ministry engineers and a blasting consultancy. The engineers assured us that there was no possibility that the underground blasts would damage the buildings which are over 1km away from the mining site. We visited the area to ascertain the alleged cracked walls in the area, but the engineers did not see the blast-associated cracks on the walls within the area. Our experts did not find any evidence that substantiates the allegations by the
residents.

“Gumtree Mine was actually absolved by the Mines ministry and other experts. Our next target will be to discuss with the land developer in the area who is also blasting. We will have to discuss how best we can reduce the blast shocks because the outcrop blasting has been said to have such an effect, but for now, there is no evidence on the nearby dwellings to suggest that the blasting from the mine is causing any harm on the properties.”

Gumtree Mine’s environmental impact assessment consultant Jairos Nzvimba said: “The company is registered through all responsible and relevant authorities. The vibrations that occur at the mining pit cannot cause harm to any dwellings given the distance of the mine from the residential area. Another factor to look at is the location of the mine where we have rivers surrounding the area. The existence of these rivers is evidence that there is no possibility for vibrations to take place.

“The company does blasting once a month and the magnitude of the blasts does not exceed 500 metres. The mine is situated well over 1km from the nearest dwellings. Residents should be aware that the blasting at the mine cannot affect them because as we go deep down the pit, the vibration impact gets less.”

He said land developers in the area were the ones who were performing surface blasting, which might have an impact on houses.

Efforts to get a comment from the Environmental Management Authority were fruitless as the authority kept on referring NewsDay from one office to the other.

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Former Cabinet Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has sensationally claimed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa wants to [...]

The post Prof. Mthuli Ncube set to be appointed Vice President appeared first on The Zimbabwe Mail.

Source: Gold panners dig under Kwekwe school – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY OBERT SIAMILANDU
AUTHORITIES at Globe and Phoenix Primary School in Kwekwe have expressed concern that its classroom blocks face collapse as gold panners were digging under the school.

Globe and Phoenix school head Isaac Bvupajena told Southern Eye that the miners were so daring that they are carrying out their illegal mining activities within the school yard at night.

“They have been threatening the school security guard and other employees at the school with death. As school authorities, we are worried about the illegal mining activities currently happening at the school,” Bvupajena said.

“We have alerted the responsible authorities about the situation, but there is no action being taken,” he added.

Currently, the illegal miners have pulled down part of the school’s security fence in order to gain access to the school yard. They have left deep open pits and tunnels underneath one of the classroom blocks.

The school administration has begun to reclaim the dangerous pits with sand in a desperate bid to protect pupils from falling into them.

No comment could be obtained from the police.

The school is not the only infrastructure in the country which is threatened by illegal gold panning activities.

Last year in Filabusi, about 80km south of Bulawayo, gold panners left open gullies all over the area. The illegal miners boasted that they will dig anywhere in the country as long as their metal detectors detected gold deposits, adding that they would even dig under people’s property.

In Silobela, Midlands province, the Roman Catholic Church-run Loreto Mission’s infrastructure is being destroyed by illegal gold miners who are digging large pits in search of the yellow metal.

Classroom blocks at the school face possible collapse, while people and livestock are also endangered.

The Midlands province and gold-rich areas such as Gwanda have also experienced machete wars between gold panners.

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Source: NOIC in US$20m upgrade of Feruka pipeline – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA
THE National Oil Infrastructure Company (NOIC) has partnered Mozambican fuel company Companhia do Pipeline Moçambique  Zimbabwe (CPMZ) in a US$20 million Feruka pipeline upgrade  project to increase  its pumping capacity.

Addressing journalists in the capital yesterday, NOIC chairperson Daniel Mackencie Ncube said the upgrading would see the pipeline pumping up to three billion litres of fuel per year up from its current capacity of 2,19 billion per year.

“In line with the national vision to establish Harare as the regional hub for fuel distribution, PZL, in conjunction with its Mozambican counterpart, CPMZ is upgrading the pumping capacity of the pipeline from an annual volume throughput of 2,19 billion litres to 3 billion litres,”Ncube said.

“The objective is to achieve a capacity of 5 billion litres per annum by 2025.  These volumes translate to daily volumes of six million litres currently and 8,2 and 13,7 million litres after the successive upgrades. The utilisation of future capacity will result in the generation of additional foreign currency.”

PZL executive director Peter Masvikeni said construction works for the upgrading project would run in two phases, and would commence in the third quarter of this year.

“We have now gone into the phase of procurement where to date we have contracted six vendors for the supply of critical equipment and the equipment will basically start arriving during the third and fourth quarters of this year.  We expect construction works to commence during the third quarter which will result in the commissioning by the first quarter of 2023 .The cost of the first phase is US$15 million, and the second phase will require an additional US$5 million,” Masvikeni said.

Last year, PZL pumped 1,19 billion litres of fuel from the Feruka pipeline, which was enough to meet demand.

Fuel dealers said the pipeline would ease fuel queues at Beira port, and hours of waiting at the offloading bays.

Direct Fuel Import Group secretary general Bart Mukucha said: “If the upgrade is completed, it means the pipeline will pump faster. We will not wait for up to 12 hours like we used to do for the fuel to be offloaded at the port.”

 

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