President Mnangagwa has directed that a Chinese company
carrying out quarrying activities in Domboshava in Mashonaland East should stop
operating after he was briefed by the leadership there that its operations were
threatening the existence of sacred caves in the area.
The mining operations were reportedly going to result in
the eviction of 20 000 villagers.
Addressing hundreds of Domboshava residents at Showgrounds
yesterday during this month’s clean-up campaign, President Mnangagwa said the
operations would be stopped.
“I have heard that there is a Chinese company that is
mining at Pagarimo Hill and is now encroaching into areas where there are
sacred caves.
“I have heard your concerns and we will stop the
destruction that is going on because these areas are sacred to us,” President
Mnangagwa said.
The company, Aihua Jianye sought to mine quarry near
Mverechena Shopping Centre and this would have seen people within a
five-kilometre radius being removed to create space for the project.
Concerns were also raised regarding how the company got
permission to mine without an Environment Impact Assessment certificate.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa also said Domboshava would
also be allocated more Zupco buses to service the area when the next batch
arrives next week.
“We have secured buses, some are coming from Belarus, China
and South Africa and those that are coming in at the moment are from South
Africa.
“Next week will be launching a fleet of other buses that
have arrived in the country and while our focus has been on urban areas we will
ensure that from the fleet that we will launch, some will service rural
routes including here,” President
Mnangagwa said.
He also called on the local authority in the area to ensure
that there are planned settlements that would make it easy to provide services
like water and sewer reticulation.
“I understand the area is supposed to have 20 000 residents
but now has more than 80 000. This means the Ministry of Local Government,
Public Works and National Housing should look into the issue so that essential
services like police stations, clinics and hospitals and Government
administrative offices are in place,” he said. Herald
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