Efforts have been suspended to rescue or recover the bodies of five miners trapped underground at Task Mining Syndicate in Chegutu 30 days ago when a mineshaft collapsed since more people may die in the dangerous ground although there is now no hope of finding survivors.
Once Cabinet confirms the abandonment of the search
mission, all access points into the shaft will be sealed off, making the shaft
in effect a grave for Constantino Dzinoreva (47), Charles Mutume (31), Crynos
Nyamukanga (44) Shingai Gwatidzo (20) and Munashe Christian (17).
Local Government and Public Works Deputy Minister Cde
Marian Chombo said the Civil Protection Unit (CPU), which falls under the
ministry, had indicated the need to abandon the rescue efforts because the
continuous collapse of the shaft could endanger more people.
She said the unit was working with the Ministry of Mines
and Mining Development which is an active member of the Cabinet Committee on
Environment Disaster Prevention and Management.
“The role of Civil Protection Unit, through its
decentralised structures, is to coordinate operations while technical expertise
come from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. To date, from the
reports they have sent to us, they’ve indicated that we need to abandon the
rescue efforts due to the continuous collapse of the shaft. However the
chairman of the committee is to report to Cabinet on the technical advice given
by the subnational structures. In this case, Cabinet will make the final
decision,” she said.
CPU director Mr Nathan Nkomo said they were awaiting
Cabinet’s decision on the way forward with the unit’s decision to suspend the
rescue effort being premised on findings by the Ministry of Mines.
Cabinet would deliberate on the final report presented on
the rescue operations after which a decision on whether or not to permanently
halt operations would be made.
“We can’t put a final closure on the rescue effort as we
are guided by the Cabinet’s decision. As the Civil Protection Unit, we acted
upon recommendations provided by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
which has been an integral part in the rescue efforts of the five trapped
miners.
“We took seriously the recommendations given by Mines
officials and decided to suspend rescue efforts until Cabinet’s decision on the
way forward as was done to the Chimanimani Cyclone Idai rescue efforts.
“As CPU, we acted to save the lives of the rescuers who
faced the danger of getting trapped by unstable ground,” he said.
Chief Government mining engineer, Michael Munodawafa, said
he had earlier recommended that operations be done carefully considering that
the ground was wobbling.
“The last time we recommended to the CPU that since
operations were becoming dangerous considering unstable ground, there was a
need to be careful and monitor operations. However, the decision to halt
operations by CPU was a collective decision emanating from discoveries and
recommendations given,” he said.
A report written by Chegutu district development
coordinator, Mr Tariro Tomu to Task Mining Syndicate management, shows that the
operations were stopped after they proved to be unsuccessful owing to safety
challenges.
“A technical report from the Ministry of Mines has shown
that operations are proving to be unsuccessful because of safety challenges.
There is continuous fall of ground within the collapsed zone,” read part of the
report. The report also showed that the accident area was becoming more
unstable and unsafe as most of the support pillars were mined out before the
accident.
“There is no second escape route in case of emergency and
the plan of installing a bulkhead and allowing people to work below it is a
risky operation as there is a high risk of it falling thereby exposing the workers
to great danger if trapped,” reads the report.
Under the Mining Management and Safety Regulations, all
rescue operations and retrieval of the bodies were ordered stopped with
immediate effect.
Task Mining Syndicate chairperson, Mr Timothy Masviba said
the mine was going to engage the Government to be allowed to rescue the trapped
miners.
Families have not lost hope of finding their relatives
alive and are still camped at the mine premises where they are imploring
Government to extend the operation to help the trapped workers.
They have also petitioned Mashonaland West Minister of
State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mary Mliswa-Chikoka, the Minister
of Mines and Minerals Development, Winston Chitando, the local legislator,
Webster Shamhu and Chief Ngezi to convince CPU to continue with the operation.
Minister Mliswa-Chikoka urged the family members to
understand the Government’s decision as it was coming from experts and aimed at
protecting lives. Herald
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