Monday, 8 April 2013
Zim honoured to host UNWTO general assembly
Zimbabwe and Zambia will host the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation general assembly as part of President Mugabe’s dream to
showcase the country as a world of wonders, Tourism and Hospitality
Industry Minister Walter Mzembi said. Speaking during a public lecture
at the University of Zimbabwe
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Scramble for Zim’s mineral wealth at the expense of the environment
In fact, without mining, we would be taken back to the Stone Age and I doubt if there is anyone who would honestly want that!
The harnessing of the locally available minerals should indeed see an
economically-struggling nation like Zimbabwe getting itself out of the
poverty cycle, something that no one should wish to deprive the country
of.
My only gripe is how the environmental impact of mining is being given very little, if any, attention.
Mining often involves the excavation of the minerals from the earth, processes that often involve a lot of activities, all differing in extent according to the mineral being mined and the mining method being employed.
These range from open-pit, placer, strip to artisanal mining among others.
Some of the general impact of mining on the environment include high energy consumption, reduction in the quality of air, water contamination and great damage to the landscape.
Most mining companies would no doubt like us to believe that these are necessary evils that are bound to come with the wealth, a mentality that we should dispel.
The issue of mining and its impact on the environment has been a subject of contention between mining companies and environmentally-conscious individuals the world over.
Although there has been general consensus on the fact that we cannot do without the mining industry, we need to agree that the activities should be undertaken in a manner that is friendly to the environment.
Yes, mining companies carry environmental impact assessment studies before starting their activities, but there is little on the ground that shows they carry through their plans.
Like all other environment-conscious countries, Zimbabwe should enforce the Mining Act, which emphasises the rehabilitation and reclamation of mines, requiring mining companies to present rehabilitation plans before they can be granted mining rights.
Mining companies should agree to contribute to decreasing the negative impact to the environment without necessarily disrupting the supply of minerals by engaging in what is called “Sustainable Mining”.
Government should grant mining rights only after a company has signed a contract stating that it would implement sustainable mining practices, among other conditions.
The country faces the problem of companies that occupy mineral-rich lands, and after having cleared the areas of vegetation, damaged the landscape and extracted all minerals, abandon them in search of more virgin lands to explore.
Mining should not be considered complete until the process known as Ecological Rebuilding has been completed.
The process involves reclaiming the land to make it suitable for usage in the future by returning the land as much as is possible to its original state. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see trees flourishing at a spot previously mined?
Many might feel that the gains derived from mining outweigh the environment, an ignorant and rather irresponsible way of looking at the problem that faces us and urgently needs a sustainable and viable solution.
What if minerals were to be discovered all over the country?
Would we then choose to do without trees and all that nature has to offer because we are more concerned about self-enrichment?
Maybe the most unfortunate part is that, although experiencing first-hand the effects of mining activities on their environment, villagers in the Marange area where the Chiadzwa diamonds are coming from, are not benefitting in any significant way.
In fact, they have been relocated from the diamond-rich area, leaving mining companies to enjoy the wealth in the land of their birth.
My only gripe is how the environmental impact of mining is being given very little, if any, attention.
Mining often involves the excavation of the minerals from the earth, processes that often involve a lot of activities, all differing in extent according to the mineral being mined and the mining method being employed.
These range from open-pit, placer, strip to artisanal mining among others.
Some of the general impact of mining on the environment include high energy consumption, reduction in the quality of air, water contamination and great damage to the landscape.
Most mining companies would no doubt like us to believe that these are necessary evils that are bound to come with the wealth, a mentality that we should dispel.
The issue of mining and its impact on the environment has been a subject of contention between mining companies and environmentally-conscious individuals the world over.
Although there has been general consensus on the fact that we cannot do without the mining industry, we need to agree that the activities should be undertaken in a manner that is friendly to the environment.
Yes, mining companies carry environmental impact assessment studies before starting their activities, but there is little on the ground that shows they carry through their plans.
Like all other environment-conscious countries, Zimbabwe should enforce the Mining Act, which emphasises the rehabilitation and reclamation of mines, requiring mining companies to present rehabilitation plans before they can be granted mining rights.
Mining companies should agree to contribute to decreasing the negative impact to the environment without necessarily disrupting the supply of minerals by engaging in what is called “Sustainable Mining”.
Government should grant mining rights only after a company has signed a contract stating that it would implement sustainable mining practices, among other conditions.
The country faces the problem of companies that occupy mineral-rich lands, and after having cleared the areas of vegetation, damaged the landscape and extracted all minerals, abandon them in search of more virgin lands to explore.
Mining should not be considered complete until the process known as Ecological Rebuilding has been completed.
The process involves reclaiming the land to make it suitable for usage in the future by returning the land as much as is possible to its original state. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see trees flourishing at a spot previously mined?
Many might feel that the gains derived from mining outweigh the environment, an ignorant and rather irresponsible way of looking at the problem that faces us and urgently needs a sustainable and viable solution.
What if minerals were to be discovered all over the country?
Would we then choose to do without trees and all that nature has to offer because we are more concerned about self-enrichment?
Maybe the most unfortunate part is that, although experiencing first-hand the effects of mining activities on their environment, villagers in the Marange area where the Chiadzwa diamonds are coming from, are not benefitting in any significant way.
In fact, they have been relocated from the diamond-rich area, leaving mining companies to enjoy the wealth in the land of their birth.
Bulawayo water crisis
However, I would like to argue that the water situation in Bulawayo
betrays a deeper crisis which lies at the heart of the city’s woes and
indeed those of the nation. The crisis, as far as I am concerned, is
more reflective of a leadership crisis than a water one.
The solutions to the city’s water woes are well known and well documented through platforms, structures and forums such as the City Council’s Future.
Water Supplies Committee, Habakkuk Trust and Bulawayo Agenda, among others. Both civil society and the Bulawayo City Council have over the past ten years propounded short, medium and long-term solutions bracketed into the following:
In spite of this, nothing concrete has been done resulting in a crisis situation caused by both a government which has planned to fail by failing to plan.
If indeed they planned, there has been a failure to act and if any action has been taken it has been painstakingly slow. Somebody somewhere has to accept responsibility for this crisis instead of the constant blame apportioning and “ostrich mentality” that we have seen.
While the Finance ministry claims it has released money for various interventions and has blamed the City Council for not acting decisively and swiftly, the council has denied this while the ministry has been perpetually touting the completion of the Mtshabezi Pipeline Project for the past two years, albeit to no avail. Leadership is not about apportioning blame, but accepting responsibility, taking action and creating a unity of purpose and action.
Surely, it is a monumental scandal that the government of the day has failed to build and connect a major dam to Bulawayo for the past 35 years — almost two generations! Most of the water infrastructure was built by the Ian Smith government. Surely our so-called liberators should be hiding in shame just to think that Bulawayo, which now has a population of well over a million people ,is still using the same quantity of water as it used when it had less than 400 000 people.
Since the burden of water supply lies with Zinwa, the government should take the blame for the current crisis.
Resolutions have been passed by forums and platforms such as the Habakkuk Trust Water Indaba (2007), Habakkuk Trust/Nango (Water Summit 2011) and the MDC-T provincial executive and yet the Water minister has remained intransigent about declaring Bulawayo a water crisis area. If a city is to go for up to six days without water in a week, this merits a crisis.
I am acutely aware that the situation is similar in Harare, but for different reasons, as it has been caused not necessarily by a shortage of water, but by a combination of the water reticulation system and the shoddiness of the purification process.
Bulawayo cries out for proactive and visionary councillors, legislators and leaders who do not sleep in chambers of council or get lost in the corridors of power.
How many of our sofa Parliament members have spoken out about this water crisis and attempted to provide leadership?
What are the councillors doing in meetings with residents and soliciting strategies of conserving water and avoiding disease? Every single year for the past fifteen years we have waited for the rainy season to come knowing all too well that our catchment area lies in the semi-arid region of Matabeleland.
Every year the budgetary process is struck by inexplicable inertia when it comes to capital water projects such as Mtshabezi, Gwayi-Shangani. We are told either the money that has been allocated has not been disbursed, or the money that has been disbursed is not adequate, or the money has been disbursed but the contractors have failed to deliver.
It’s the same story every year. This is clearly a problem of leadership, a problem of vision, capacity and lack of political will. Come next elections, we should not be afraid to elect new leaders with the capacity to drive the city forward. Leaders who have required acumen, spine, integrity, maturity, energy and enterprise to make the City of Kings indeed the City of Kings.
Would Sydney Malunga, Charles Mpofu, Nick Mabodoko, Micah Bhebhe have kept quiet while such a crisis persisted? We do not need more committees to solve our water situation since the solutions are there for everybody to see. We have a crisis of leadership!
The solutions to the city’s water woes are well known and well documented through platforms, structures and forums such as the City Council’s Future.
Water Supplies Committee, Habakkuk Trust and Bulawayo Agenda, among others. Both civil society and the Bulawayo City Council have over the past ten years propounded short, medium and long-term solutions bracketed into the following:
In spite of this, nothing concrete has been done resulting in a crisis situation caused by both a government which has planned to fail by failing to plan.
If indeed they planned, there has been a failure to act and if any action has been taken it has been painstakingly slow. Somebody somewhere has to accept responsibility for this crisis instead of the constant blame apportioning and “ostrich mentality” that we have seen.
While the Finance ministry claims it has released money for various interventions and has blamed the City Council for not acting decisively and swiftly, the council has denied this while the ministry has been perpetually touting the completion of the Mtshabezi Pipeline Project for the past two years, albeit to no avail. Leadership is not about apportioning blame, but accepting responsibility, taking action and creating a unity of purpose and action.
Surely, it is a monumental scandal that the government of the day has failed to build and connect a major dam to Bulawayo for the past 35 years — almost two generations! Most of the water infrastructure was built by the Ian Smith government. Surely our so-called liberators should be hiding in shame just to think that Bulawayo, which now has a population of well over a million people ,is still using the same quantity of water as it used when it had less than 400 000 people.
Since the burden of water supply lies with Zinwa, the government should take the blame for the current crisis.
Resolutions have been passed by forums and platforms such as the Habakkuk Trust Water Indaba (2007), Habakkuk Trust/Nango (Water Summit 2011) and the MDC-T provincial executive and yet the Water minister has remained intransigent about declaring Bulawayo a water crisis area. If a city is to go for up to six days without water in a week, this merits a crisis.
I am acutely aware that the situation is similar in Harare, but for different reasons, as it has been caused not necessarily by a shortage of water, but by a combination of the water reticulation system and the shoddiness of the purification process.
Bulawayo cries out for proactive and visionary councillors, legislators and leaders who do not sleep in chambers of council or get lost in the corridors of power.
How many of our sofa Parliament members have spoken out about this water crisis and attempted to provide leadership?
What are the councillors doing in meetings with residents and soliciting strategies of conserving water and avoiding disease? Every single year for the past fifteen years we have waited for the rainy season to come knowing all too well that our catchment area lies in the semi-arid region of Matabeleland.
Every year the budgetary process is struck by inexplicable inertia when it comes to capital water projects such as Mtshabezi, Gwayi-Shangani. We are told either the money that has been allocated has not been disbursed, or the money that has been disbursed is not adequate, or the money has been disbursed but the contractors have failed to deliver.
It’s the same story every year. This is clearly a problem of leadership, a problem of vision, capacity and lack of political will. Come next elections, we should not be afraid to elect new leaders with the capacity to drive the city forward. Leaders who have required acumen, spine, integrity, maturity, energy and enterprise to make the City of Kings indeed the City of Kings.
Would Sydney Malunga, Charles Mpofu, Nick Mabodoko, Micah Bhebhe have kept quiet while such a crisis persisted? We do not need more committees to solve our water situation since the solutions are there for everybody to see. We have a crisis of leadership!
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