CHINESE diamond miner Anjin Investment is set to resume
mining operations in Chiadzwa after the government allegedly bowed to pressure
from Beijing.
Anjin and other diamond companies were barred from mining
in the once rich diamond fields by former President Robert Mugabe’s government
in 2016 following allegations of looting.
Other companies were forced into a merger to create the
Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), but Anjin resisted the move.
According to government sources, Anjin’s licence was
restored following intense pressure from Beijing, and operations at the miner’s
Chiadzwa site will resume soon.
The revelations were first made at a human rights workshop
organised by the Centre for Natural Resources Governance (CNG) and Bocha
Diamond Community Trust (BDCT) last week amid protests by locals.
Moses Makwanda, a BDCT official, told the workshop that he
had received a call from an unnamed ZCDC official who disclosed the
developments.
CNG director Farai Maguwu said he was aware of Anjin’s
return, describing it as a sad development.
“Yes, I am aware and they were seen loitering in Marange
barely two weeks after (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa took over the reins of
power (in November last year),” he said.
“It is sad that a company that was accused by former
Finance minister Tendai Biti for not remitting anything to Treasury has been
re-engaged to continue looting.”
Maguwu said the Marange community was not happy about the
return of Anjin.
“Mnangagwa must tell us something good that Anjin did which
we all don’t know,” he said.
Anjin is jointly owned by Chinese companies Anhui Foreign
Economic Construction Company Limited and Matt Bronze —an investment arm of the
Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando last
week demanded questions in writing but had not responded to them by the time of
going to print.
Besides allegations of looting, the diamond companies were
accused of polluting water sources and causing environmental degradation.
Newsday
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