BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
Centre For Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) has condemned the negligence that led to death, through suffocation, of artisanal miners who were buried alive by Belarusian and Chinese companies at Premier Estates outside Mutare this past week.
An unspecified number of artisanal gold miners are feared to have been buried alive after a Belarusian company subcontracted a Chinese company, Zhondin Investments, to carry out yet to be ascertained operations at Premier Estate outside Mutare.
Two bodies of artisanal miners have been retrieved while some, who according to artisanal miners close to 10 are still unaccounted for.
the developments has brought concern over the blatant violation of Human Rights which happened at Premier Estates between 11 and 13 November 2020.
This incident epitomizes extensive violations of human rights that have been going on in Zimbabwe’s extractive sector, needlessly costing the nation scores of lives.
According to eyewitnesses, who spoke to this publication the subcontracted Chinese company deliberately filled artisanal miners’ shafts, fully aware that there were people underground, thereby suffocating the artisanal miners to death.
The heinous crime was overseen by armed Zimbabwe Republic Police Officers who were providing security to the company’s operations.
Police have since said they are not sure whether the company was doing land reclamation or mining but no sufficient precautionary measures and time were taken to ensure there were no artisanal miners in the pits.
Although the exact number of artisanal miners still trapped underground is disputed, the fact that already 2 bodies have been recovered from one of the shafts gives credence to claims by artisanal miners that more could still be trapped.
The two companies and the Zimbabwe Republic Police have dismissed the claims that there are artisanal miners still trapped underground, despite sights of clothes and personal belongings left on the ground that could be evidence for missing persons.
CNRG is appalled by lack of a coordinated rescue mission between the GoZ, the mining companies and artisanal miners who know the identity of their missing peers.
CNRG has since called in government gather more information from the artisanal miners who were present when the accident happened without intentions to incriminate them.
Incidents of mining accidents especially this rainy season have been on the increase with many people failed to be accounted for as a result of failed rescue missions
