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Midlands Reporter
The Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation (ZMF) has applied for a licence to import fuel for its members.

In an interview last week, ZMF chairman Mr Makumba Nyenje said the move will ease pressure on service stations which have been battling to supply fuel.

“We have applied for the licence because miners have been facing challenges due to fuel shortages,” he said. “We await Government’s response at the earliest possible time.”

Mr Nyenje said they submitted their application to the Ministry of Energy and Power Development through the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA).

He said they were embracing Government’s move to liberalise the importation of fuel by allowing big companies with free funds to import fuel for their own consumption.

Mr Nyenje said they wanted to have fuel ready for the miners for improved efficiency in the mining sector.

“We would like to have fuel in mining towns and our members will be using their e-cards or coupons to access the fuel,” he said.

Mr Nyenje said last year, ZMF in partnership with Met Bank, launched an electronic multi-purpose membership card for miners, which is linked to the mobile phone and enables a miner to have access to multiple services such as loans and mining equipment offered by the bank, confirm membership, buy goods, pay bills and make transfers, among other things.

He said many small-scale miners are embracing the e-card.