By Agencies
CHIEF Mutasa has cried foul over the sidelining of traditional leaders from the ongoing riverbed rehabilitation exercise despite the pivotal roles they have played in safeguarding the environment.
He made the remarks while speaking at the Betterbrands Tradition Bira ceremony at Redwing Mine in Penhalonga, Manicaland, on Friday.
The ceremony was held to promote safety and prevent loss of life in mining areas.
“I applaud President Emmerson Mnangagwa for such initiatives on the declaration of rivers a state of disaster,” he said.
“But the problem starts when we are told that there are committees set up to look into all these rivers, but as traditional leaders, we are the custodians of these rivers.
“The composition itself has no traditional leaders; they have overlooked our role. Maybe we are considered uneducated and there were no proper consultations. We have all the resolutions, and we have the history of these rivers.”
Chief Mutasa is the custodian of the Mutare and Nyamukwarara rivers.
“Just imagine the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Environment coming here without my knowledge and people do not learn,” he said.
“Today (Friday) we are here to solve the crisis which was created by the Ministry of Mines. People were dying every week and we have stabilised the situation.”
Meanwhile, Chief Mutasa applauded Betterbrands for improving the security and safety of miners at Redwing Mine.
“We used to have deaths every week and mining incidents, but we realised that we have not been doing something, and that is when we resurrected these biras,” he said.
“Deaths and mining incidents have been reduced to just two percent; this is a combination of safety measures being implemented by Betterbrands Mining Company.”
-AMH
