More than 10 villagers in Mathe under Chief Bvute in
Mberengwa are in a quandary after a mining company invaded their plots last
week and started mounting headgear shafts without giving them any notice.
The Mirror established that the involved mining company is
called Can One Enterprise. What shocked villagers who spoke to The Mirror is
that the mining company installed its equipment in private plots without any
notice or alerting the owners, said the villagers.
The villagers went from one Government office to another
and from one traditional leader to another in a bid to establish what was
exactly happening but to no avail. The villagers wanted to know their fate in the face of the development but to no
avail.
They complained to The Mirror that their rights were being
trampled upon by the mining company since they were entitled to know what was
happening to their fields. They also said that there was the question of
compensation if the mine has legitimate papers to operate in the area.
Chief Bvute reacted angrily when The Mirror called him for
a comment. He said that the reporter had no authority to ask him questions on
projects happening in his land. He said he once worked in the President’s
office and would only talk to newspapers that belong to Zanu PF.
“I am the chief, I worked in the Office of the President,
who gave you the authority to question me?” asked the chief.
Headman Luis Dube said he was shocked by the behavior of
the mining company as he is also not being told of the developments. “I am surprised by this
approach.
A mining company just came and started installing its
equipment without saying a word to the affected people; this is unfair. We want
the lands office to come and deal with the issue,” said Dube.
A man only identified as Chauke, a director of Can One
Enterprise said the area that his company was going to mine was a bush and it
did not belong to anyone. He accused some villagers of not being grateful for
the company’s work in the area including building schools.
He said his company built Kushinga Secondary School. Some
of the villagers whose fields are affected by the mine are Sophie Matutu,
Patrick Mavedzenge, Japhet Bhidi, Daniel Mugwagwa,
Raynos Ndlovu and Chirino Vheke. Efforts to get a comment
from Mberengwa District Lands Officer were futile.
The villagers said all Government offices approached for
assistance made one excuse after another. “At first they said they had no car,
we organised one and they said that their team was not ready and now they are saying they cannot come because of
Covid-19. I just want these miners out of my field,” said Chirino Vheke.
“These villagers are not grateful, we gave them water, we
built Kushinga Secondary School and we have generally developed the area. We
are mining in a bush; there are no stands or fields. We bought the mine from
Andrew Notty in 2009 but it was pegged in 1987 so what they are saying is invalid, the mine started before their lands, stands or
whatever,” said Chauke. Masvingo Mirror
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