Inside Hwange’s environmental menace

Calvin Manika

HWANGE- A greyish mist hazes the sky  as Naison Mlotshwa, 40, who has lived in Mashala village, on the outskirts of Hwange town for the past 15 years, sits under a tree in an attempt to mitigate effects of the sweltering weather. In-between loud coughs which he attributes to coal dust from the mines , he tells Community Podium that the whole atmosphere   is filled with dust and other pollutants that have resulted in respiratory illnesses in Mashala and surrounding areas.

According to Mlotshwa, air pollution has not been the only scourge in the area as he stressed that life has taken a turn for the worst due to the increase in liquid and solid waste dumping in streams and the general destruction of the environment. He asserted the importance of streams in the village and bemoaned that contamination of the streams continues to threaten lives.

Villagers are up in arms at their continued exclusion in the making of environmental decisions that affect them. Their trepidation was further fueled by the recent invasion of nearby Dinde by  a Chinese company, Beifer Investments, which took over a significant portion of the village for mining purposes amidst an outcry from the community that apparently fell on deaf ears.

“I don’t know how authorities continue to renew operations of these mines. I think the Environmental Management Agency should take stern measures against the reckless mines,” said Mlotshwa.

Hwange District boasts of high-quality coal deposits that are key for thermal, industrial, and cocking purposes. The communities have not benefited much from the supposed corporate social responsibility of these companies and little attention has been paid towards protecting  the environment. 

Independent Environmental Impact Assessment Reports show that the environmental menace is caused by unregulated coal mining. Several calls have been made by organisations such as Greater Whange Residents Trust (GWRT), ZIMCODD and Centre for Natural Resources Governance (CNRG) who have flagged mining operations which local populations believe are supported by corrupt local leadership,  especially chiefs and government authorities. Allegedly, the main perpetrators of the illicit activities are Chilota (now Garlpex Mine Private Limited), Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) and Makomo Resources Private Limited.

According to local authorities governing mining in the area, all these companies possess valid Environment Impact Assessment Certificates, yet an independent Environmental Impact Assessment carried out by a non-governmental environmental watchdog, the Centre for Natural Resources Governance (CNRG), in 2017 unearthed the disturbing impact of coal mining on the environment which was not covered by the government agency assessment reports.

The CNRG engaged Exclusive Environmental and Planning Services (EEPS) to carry out an environmental impact assessment in Hwange to evaluate the extent of the damage caused by coal mining on the environmental and socio- cultural set up of the area.  

CNRG Executive Director Farai Maguwu notes that the study was meant to investigate the impact of coal mining and power generation on the environment and humans as well as the contribution of Hwange coal projects to climate change.

“The study covered mining areas manned by Hwange Colliery Company, Makomo Mine, W&K Mine, Chilota Mine and Coal Bricks Mine. The study subsequently noted that there is severe air, land and water pollution due to coal mining and power generation in Hwange,” says Maguwu.

Speaking on air pollution the CNRG EIA report seen by Community Podium, remarks that the atmospheric air has been affected by the emissions.

“…as such the air in Hwange is heavily polluted and similar analysis of air in coal mining areas in other countries shows that these emissions comprise mainly of fugitive dust and gases including methane (CH4), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NO). Operation of the internal combustion engines of the mining equipment at Makomo and Chilota mines emit exhaustion gases as well,” reads part of the report.

However, speaking to this publication, Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Matabeleland North Publicity and Education Officer Mildred Matunga professed ignorance of the study.

“The Agency is not aware of such a study having been undertaken and CNRG has not shared the findings of their research with the Agency so as to confirm the findings,” she said.

“The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process entails an evaluation of a project before its onset to determine its impact on the environment and human health and to set out the required mitigation measures, environmental monitoring and management procedures and plans,” said Matunga.

Some well-placed sources who prefer anonymity allege that these companies only consult Chiefs and EMA to the exclusion of the community in most cases. In response to these allegations, EMA said, the EIA process is premised on the principle of stakeholder participation as provided for under Section 4 subsection (2) paragraph (b) – (c) of the Environmental Management Act Chapter 20:27. 

“The reliance or validity on/of traditional leadership, not only chiefs, is that they are the custodians of the cultural, social, natural resources and developmental issues of the communities they preside over. They have mechanisms/frameworks that provide for the consultation, reporting, feedback to their subjects.  The Agency does not participate in the consultation as purported. Our role is to check if all the interested and affected parties have been fully represented during the stakeholder consultation process,” says Matunga. 

The ashes emanating from the power generating plant are affecting  residents of Ingagula Township, most of whom are now suffering from respiratory problems. Tobias Ncube, a resident in Makwika said the companies do not have proper dust suppression models in place.

“…as a result, dust is hurled up in the air and ends up in residences of Ingagula, Lwendulu, Makwika and Lusumbami townships. The ash suppression machines which were used in the past to dispose of the ash in  dams after burning the coal are now dysfunctional,” said Ncube.

Greater Whange Residents Trust (GWRT) Coordinator Fidelis Chima is concerned that most of the mining companies are not doing proper EIA consultations. 

“They target government departments and traditional leaders to obtain EIA certificates and residents are not effectively consulted. People who live in mining areas are exposed to various diseases such as pneumoconiosis and TB. These companies should not obtain EIA certificates if residents are not effectively consulted as residents have a right to participate in decisions that directly affect them,” says Chima.

Member of Parliament for Hwange Central, Hon. Daniel Molokela also weighed in.

“With regards to the mining investments in Hwange just like in the rest of the country, we have a problem and it emanates from the Mines and Minerals Act, which is a very colonial legislation, which was enacted at a time, when the mining industry was clearly focused on the British empire and benefiting those in London. The people on the ground, the indigenous people at that time were regarded as subjects and not citizens. So, we are looking forward to the Mines and Minerals Development Bill to be tabled in parliament because we need to make sure that some of these sections that we see in the old Act are totally removed to increase community level participation and community level benefits,” says Molokele.

The EIA report on Hwange Coal Mining Activities by CNRG suggests that the companies can adopt clean coal technologies. 

“One way through which these deleterious effects can be minimised is the use of clean coal technologies which entails carbon capture and storage technologies to capture carbon dioxide from the gas. This ensures that there is less impact on climate and humans,” says the report.

Hon. Molokele is optimistic about the role of parliament in changing the shape of things through legislation.

“We also need changes to the Environmental Management Act in line with recommendations that the Portfolio Committee for Environment made in its Dinde report. So, we will need to see to it that the Act is less focused on the investors and companies and is more focused on the local communities. As things stand environmental destruction continues because the local communities have no say nor influence and that needs to come to an end,” said Molokele.

The 2017 Hwange Colliery Company Financial Report, seen by this publication, notes that, Pneumoconiosis (one of the deadly coal related diseases) average for the Company was more than 90% which is above the industry’s average. The Company admitted that run-off water and stormwater causes seasonal acid mine water drainage into the nearby Deka River and said monitoring of water pollution in the Deka River was set to continue and stakeholder meetings held to appraise coal mining companies and the community about the level of pollution in the river. 

The report adds that the Company has a Corporate Social Responsibility programme to install boreholes in the community for the community and livestock. However, in its 2020 financial report, HCCL said, the Company was to continue on its scaled down approach to fragmented Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and was to focus more on production and business sustainability. 

One of the local community members Kenneth Gumbo however dismissed the promises of borehole drilling as they have not been fulfilled.

“We have perennial water challenges and villagers, especially those that  rely on local streams, are not safe at all. It’s an unfortunate situation,” added Gumbo. 

 Garlpex Mine Private Limited Director, Dr. Cephas Msipa claimed that the effluent discharged into the water is not as  harmful as feared even despite the use of an alkalinisation station for the discharge of waste. He argued that there is no evidence contrary to his claims.

“We are now in the process of developing a college that will train locals in fish farming and breeding in mined out zones of our special grant area.

One of the critical health indicators of high levels of iron associated with iron sulphides in coal is a phenomenon of blue babies. For example, babies born with compromised respiratory issues. I have not seen or heard of any cases in Hwange.  Another critical issue is heavy metals from coal fired power station chimneys. Again there is no active collection of mercury related carcinomas arising from the combustion of coal in Hwange,” said Dr Msipa.

Dr. Msipa went further to allay fears of contamination by adding that EMA continuously monitors ionic levels in water at Deka Bridge.

“There are no reports of unusual levels of contaminants from coal mining. I would be interested in participating and or mobilising resources for such studies,” said Dr Msipa.  

“The statutory obligation of having an EIA is to ensure that development is socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. Anticipated negative impact on the environment and on people’s environmental rights shall be prevented, and where they cannot be altogether prevented be minimised and remedied.  Each EIA has an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) attached to it.”

“Additional special conditions can also be attached to the EIA Certificate all in an effort to provide a safer social, economic and environmental development. The Agency also regularises the different production processes through standards.  Where a company operates out of spark, enforcement of the law is done.  This ensures that polluters take care of their waste.  Monthly and quarterly inspections are done to check on adherence to standards,” said Matunga.

The Hwange District Medical Officer’s phone was not reachable during the investigation and Makomo Resources Director Kudakwashe Nyabonda did not respond to the questions sent to him.