Communication breakdown between the Mines and Mining Development Ministry and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy almost scuttled the Chiadzwa visit by MPs last weekend.
The committee was on a tour of Chiadzwa to investigate mining operations in the area and assess corporate social responsibility programmes for the affected communities in Marange.
Mines and Energy committee chairman Edward Chindori Chininga yesterday told NewsDay that when the committee travelled to Chiadzwa they were advised some firms were not ready to host them, a situation that raised suspicion from MPs that the visit was shrouded in too much secrecy.
He said during the committees visit to Mbada Diamonds, presentations were made by a chief security manager who did not even understand a lot of mining issues.
The presentation by the security officer was a problem as he could not explain a lot of issues pertaining to production levels and how many carats per tonne the mine was able to produce and could not tell us who the board members were, Chindori-Chininga said.
When we went to Diamond Mining Company owned by the Lebanese, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development suddenly changed the programme and we were unable to see their operations. Chindori-Chininga said a Zimbabwean-owned firm Marange Resources showed it was being run professionally by people with expertise.
Marange Resources is running a neat system with good investment, good equipment and its a very impressive operation, he said.
But he said Anjin, jointly owned by the government and the Chinese, had experienced a drop in production levels from 10 000 carats per day to 3 000 due to difficulties in drilling as some of their diamonds were embedded in solid rock.
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They have made serious investment which includes seven processing plants and they also built tarred roads, primary and secondary schools, houses for people, and also put in piped underground water for every four houses, Chindori- Chininga said.
