BY SAMUEL NJINGA IN MASVINGO
The majority of people in Mushandike in the Zvehuru area in Village 7 in Masvingo are living in abject jittery and pandemonium following what they allege to be poisonous chemicals existing in one of their local dams. The villagers feel that there is a potential threat to their life following the mysterious death of cattle as a result of this poison.
Local sources in the area told this publication yesterday that a certain Chinese Mining Company has been doing some mining operations around the Mushandike communal lands belt. They strongly believe that when this Chinese Mining Company abandoned the place, some of the soils in the area had been exposed to a mixture of cyanide and caustic soda that was being used during the leaching activities as mining operations were being done. They suspect that the concentrated mixture that was fused with carbon must have penetrated through the soil and eventually got into the waters found in one of the nearby local dams which then resulted in the subsequent contamination of the water that has so far killed 2 cattle.
“We have so far reported this matter to the Environmental Management Agency as well as the Veterinary Department. We are appealing for the Government to intervene and take strong measures against these culprits. We cannot be subjected to such kind of psychological trauma as a result of a reckless mining Company,” said Alfred Fara who happens to be one of the farmers who lost his cattle following this disaster.
Village Committee Member and Chairperson of the Zvehuru Woodlands, Johnson Rungisa, echoed that they want the perpetrators to be strongly dealt with.
“It is mind boggling to see such kind of things happening. The pain is just too much. We cannot just watch this happening. We want this issue resolved. We feel that the Mining operators must come back and compensate us. This can`t be coincidence taking cognisance that the cattle carcasses are 500 metres away from the water source. We are now living in fear. Our innocent children might drink the waters without knowing it as they play around. We therefore demand swift action from the responsible authorities,” said Rungisa.
Masvingo Provincial Manager for Environmental Management Agency, Milton Muusha, confirmed this development saying that they have long since examined the carcasses for the purpose of determining what could have agitated the death of the cattle.
“So far postmortem has been done. We still need to learn the cause of these deaths from the laboratory experts. This might take them a week or more depending on the nature of circumstances related to the cause,” she said.
Masvingo Provincial Veterinary Officer, Dr Kramer Manyetu, also confirmed that they are still waiting for results to determine the cause of the death. He said that once this is done corrective measures will be taken.
Metallurgical experts use cyanide during the purification of gold. It requires maximum handling since it is poisonous. The Environmental Management Agency always encourages those involved in mining to avoid environmental degradation.