BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
The Mines and Minerals Bill was criticized for failing to include clauses that regulates mining activities and giving sovereign minerals power to the president even at the communities land.
The debate was tabled at the just-ended Chamber of annual conference where various stakeholders, including the rights lawyers, miners and the environmentalists have called on the parliamentarians to abolish the archaic 1961 Mines and Minerals Bill, which they are critiquing it for failing to incorporate community representation, human rights violations, environmental degradation, revenue leakages and lack of transparency among other concerns.
The first to weigh in was James Tsabora, a legal consultant at the University of Zimbabwe where he was unpacking the Bill and giving matters to consider.
Tsabora said the Bill, if not amended to include local communities, issues of conflict will always arise between the private miners, the communities and the government.
The Bill gives the president sovereign powers over the minerals in the land, and as such many communities in the country have been displaced or pending to be especially those located in the coal mining and diamond areas.
According to the permanent secretary in the ministry of Mines and Mining Development Pfungwa Kunaka said the proposed amendment Bill is currently before the Mines ministry, pending processes of taking it to the parliament, senate and the president.
Consultations have been done throughout the country, and the submissions will be accompanied by communities’ views.
The chairperson of Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development Edmond Mukaratikwa told the gathering that through the consultative meetings, what came out was that the public feels left out in the benefit of the minerals.
“What the public want is access as far as mining is concerned with an eye for safety, minding the environment,” he said.
“In other words, they want comfort and of course the money through empowerment.”