A mining accident that happened at Jumbo Mine in Mazowe which resulted in the death of 9 artisanal miners has been met with mixed reactions with a number of Zimbabweans calling on players in the mining sector to effectively address health and safety issues within the sector.
Speaking to Great Dyke News 24, a number of people called on the authorities within the mining sector to find solutions to reduce the death toll.
“It’s very sad because we are losing people on a daily basis.l have come across some areas where the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) don’t go to, they should be able to inspect all these dumb areas and find solutions to these problems.
“Where you can’t control something, embrace it, authorities should teach people to correct the mistakes taking place,” said James Chimedza a miner from Kwekwe.
“There is need for a round table where all players within the mining sector can contribute and see how we can embrace these people.
“As long as you fight them, you won’t win, they need to be regulated and assisted to earn a leaving from what they are doing properly and if you do that you can win the war,” said Tinashe Zenda a small scale miner from Shamva.
Minex Managing Consultant Emily Hwengwere have called on the government and all other stakeholders to properly regularise small scale mining so that they can be able to address health and safety issues effectively.
“For us at Minex whilst we appreciate the economic benefits of small scale mining, we are particularly concerned about some of the negative impacts artisanal and small scale mining particularly the health and safety issues.
“We are talking about right now the deaths at Jumbo mine for us that is really a cause for concern.
“The unfortunate thing is that so much is this is happening but it is going unnoticed and unrecorded.
“So for us, we are calling on the government and all other stakeholders concerned to properly regularise small scale mining so that we can be able to address health and safety issues effectively,” she said.
She added that there is a need for proper monitoring and tracking of the mining accidents so as to come up with strategies that can support sustainable artisanal and small scale mining in Zimbabwe.
“We also need to ensure that there is proper monitoring and tracking of these mining accidents so that we can then effectively come up with strategies that can support sustainable artisanal and small scale mining in Zimbabwe.
“As Minex we have a few products in place, at the moment we are coming up with a mining and suppliers handbook that is going to try and bring to the fore a number of these health and safety issues so that responsible stakeholders can address such issues.
“We are also having our next Minex in Mberengwa sometime in October and certainly, we want to again address the health and safety issues so that there is a dialogue among stakeholders that is government, civil society, private companies among others,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation Spokesperson Dosman Mangisi said the death toll from mining accidents in disused mine continue to rise because no one is monitoring the sites.
