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Michelle Chifamba Correspondent
A tense atmosphere pervades the small community of Mangondo, which lies across the vast open plains of the small lithium mining town of Bikita. It is home to poor rural families who cry over their future being compromised by the heavy mining activities taking place in the area. In communities housed along the mineral-rich belts, the belly of the earth is being disembowelled by the heavy machinery extracting minerals.

Soon, the terrain will be left with tumours from the wreckages of the mineral operations and concerned villagers are wondering what will happen to their lives once the minerals have been exhausted.

Watching the once picturesque landscape that has gradually turned into unsightly craters and gullies – Mangondo villagers are dejected.

They blame the Environment Management Authority (EMA), a Government body which is supposed to monitor acts of environmental negligence, for failing to safeguard the environment.

“We are actually getting a raw deal from these multinational companies. At first we thought development would come our way as minerals we discovered in our area. But a look at things tell a different story,” said Norest Muusha (not real name) of Bikita.

“These mining companies do not treat us as the humans. What they only want is the lithium and nothing else. We are suffering at the hands of their mining activities,” she added.

This mining sad story is not confined to Masvingo Province only as the discovery of alluvial diamonds in some part of Manicaland has exposed communities to environmental degradation, water pollution, dislocations and loss of livelihoods.

Families relocated from Chiadzwa diamond fields are singing the blues after some of the companies extracting the gems in Marange “dumped” them at Arda Transau resettlement area near Mutare without providing them with alternative means of survival.

The villagers said their relocation to Arda Transau condemned them to a life of beggars who are now dependent on handouts and yet they used to be self-reliant. They said the opportunities created as a result of the discovery of the precious stones in Marange such as jobs and supply contracts were benefiting outsiders and not the locals.

One villager resettled by Anjin at Arda Transau, Yananayi Mushonga, said life will never be the same again as most of them are now unable to embark on any meaningful livelihood sustaining project.

“The discovery of diamonds in Chiadzwa was a curse to us. At first we celebrated that at least God has provided us with a source of livelihood but since we were forced out we are living as destitutes,” said Mushonga.

“We are surviving from hand to mouth. We have petitioned the relevant authorities to empower us with income generating projects so that we can be self-reliant, but it’s unfortunate the issue has been politicised.”

Manicaland Provincial Minister Chris Mushohwe, who has been at the forefront of defending the villagers, was last year quoted saying the diamond mining firms in Chiadzwa are not doing enough in terms of corporate social responsibility.

“The mining companies have not done enough in terms of corporate social responsibility. They must do more. The locals are not benefiting anything. Let them be warned that our patience is now being strained,” said Minister Mushohwe.

The African Charter on human and people’s rights – Article 16, states that: “Every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health.”

Research and case studies conducted by the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (ZELA) recently indicate that the many mining companies both local and international are getting away with mining activities harmful to human and the environment and this is being instigated by lack of implementation on environmental laws.

ZELA, in its 2014 case study of mining activities in Penhalonga noted that the absence of proper implementation on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) is the major drive to environmental abuse by mining companies; as a result local communities are suffering from the long term effects of unregulated mining activities.

According to the Zimbabwean constitution, a project developer should carry out an environmental, social and economic assessment of the potential impact of a project in which measures for mitigating any adverse effects to the environment must be proposed.

“If properly implemented, EIAs can be effectively used to promote social and environmental accountability as they are supposed to take account the social, environmental, economic, political and cultural impacts of mining projects and informed by the views of affected communities.

Mining companies are required to commission the EIA studies while government departments monitor compliance,” read part of the ZELA report. However, according to ZELA, EIA reports in Zimbabwe lack detailed assessment of the impact of mining processes on the ecology, livelihoods and cultural rights of communities.

According to a January 2014 report by the Centre for Research and Development, the mining industry in Zimbabwe is saddled with archaic laws and policy inconsistencies that are fuelling corruption in government aiding to the plundering of mineral resources by foreign companies.

“The failure by government to overhaul the mining sector and introduce policies that guarantee revenue inflows to the economy in order to sustain the country’s developmental needs has impacted negatively on the economy and increased the vulnerability of communities living in resource rich areas,” read part of the report.

According to sources in Marange diamond fields, these EIA reports have a myriad of problems chief among them is the fact that Marange is a restricted area and, as a result, monitoring the implementation of commitments by the EMA is problematic.

Environmental lobby organization said local authorities have by-laws in place that must be used them the government in enforce laws as government may not have the capacity to monitor the whole country.

Environment Africa communications officer Sandra Gobvu said her organization does not have the authority to make arrests but it is concerned with creating awareness to communities.

“We do not have the authority to arrest or enforce environmental legislation as EMA are the custodians of this portfolio. As an organisation we are concerned with creating awareness to communities and people about the consequences of bad environmental governance,” said Gobvu.

Harare Residents Trust Chairperson, Precious Shumba said the local authorities are sleeping on duty as they have the responsibility to enforce their by-laws in terms of the Rural District Councils Act and Environmental Management Acct, superintended by EMA.

Speaking at the World Wetlands Day commemoration in Mutasa early this year, Environment, Water and Climate minister Saviour Kasukuwere called on for sustainable utilisation of natural resources.

“As government we are not forbidding exploitation of natural resources, but we should not mine anywhere anyhow. If we destroy the environment, we will have done a disservice to ourselves. Not only do these activities (farming and mining) affect our ecological character, they also impact on human health and the quality of drinking water. We need to ensure that there is balance between production and natural resources exploitation and protection.”