BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

Hwange Local Board (HLB) Ward 3 Councillor, Bryn Chikumbo, has sounded the alarm on the dire health risks faced by residents of Ingagula due to excessive dust pollution from haulage trucks and coal mining activities.

“We are sitting on a health time bomb,” Councillor Chikumbo warned. “The dust rising from the movement of haulage trucks is clouding the entire suburb, and we have been experiencing respiratory diseases associated with dust in our affected communities.”

Despite numerous petitions and engagements with authorities, including the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Chinese companies involved in coal mining, the community remains vulnerable to the health risks. “We have written petitions pertaining to the respiratory diseases associated with dust in our affected communities, but we haven’t got a positive response to that effect,” Councillor Chikumbo said.

“We have been in constant engagement with ZPC to try to find a permanent remedy, we have also been in contact with the Chinese, but what I think is key now for us in Ingagula is for them to acknowledge and put some corrective measures to ensure that this thing of pollution comes to an end.”

The deputy minister once raised the Ingagula issue, and Councillor Chikumbo had hoped that through his office, they would see some action being taken. However, he lamented that nothing has been done, and the community remains exposed to the health risks.

“We are vulnerable, we are exposed, the community is dying, our kids are at a higher risk, us the parents we are at higher risk,” he said. “We have got pneumococcal cases, we are still waiting for a comprehensive report, and we believe this is because of the dust we are exposed to.”

A frustrated resident echoed Councillor Chikumbo’s concerns in a Hwange WhatsApp group, saying, “Underground fires are common in coal mines. When coal is exposed to air and water and let to oxidise, it ignites itself. It is safe mining practices and risk management measures that should be out in place. Eg a sufficient layer of top soil should be used to cover coal discards, but most of these Chinese barely do these measures.” Another resident added, “It’s just a tip of an iceberg, it’s just a micro occurrence among the macro challenges that residents in mining communities face on a daily basis. These leaders don’t even care a hoot about our plight.”

Area MP Daniel Molokele assured the residents that he would raise the issue in Parliament. “This is a failure of political leadership, unfortunately, it is putting many lives at health risk,” he said. “When Parliament resumes, I will raise it as a written question to the relevant Minister.”

In their recent newsletter, Councillor Chikumbo highlighted the severity of the dust pollution in Ingagula. “It’s more like we are now swamped by dust due to the increased movement of trucks. We have been affected by ashes from the power station and coke oven batteries, but the pollution has significantly increased because of the heavy presence of trucks. You will observe that most of the vegetation around the area has changed its colour. It no longer has life due to dust.”

Health experts warn that continuous exposure to air pollution such as coal ash and soil dust may lead to pneumoconiosis, a group of interstitial lung diseases caused by breathing in certain kinds of dust particles that damage a person’s lungs. The airborne particles, 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair, can pass easily into the lungs and bloodstream, increasing a person’s risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections.

The community is calling for urgent action to address the pollution and ensure safe mining practices.