A BUBI-BASED jewellery manufacturer and miner has claimed that he is failing to fully utilise his jewellery-making machine, worth millions of dollars, due to lack of financial support from the government.
BY SILAS NKALA
In an interview last Friday, Stanford Maponga said his mining claims Nyathi and diamond cutting machinery have been lying idle since 2005 due to lack of capital. He accused the government of prioritising foreign miners at the expense of locals.
“I am talking from experience on what is happening to me. Since 2009, I have been seeking money to have my business capitalised, but to no avail. People are no longer interested in lip service from this government,” Maponga said.
“I have got quite a lot of mining machinery lying idle at my mine in Nyathi, which could have benefited the nation through production. Since 2005, there is no single government official, who has ever visited my place. These government officials take very negative decisions sitting in their offices and do not care what problems people face.”
He said he has a qualified gemstone cutter and jewellery manufacturer, who has been rendered idle by the government’s failure to fund local investors.
Maponga said, at some point, he applied for $800 000 from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Mines ministry to kickstart his business, but never got any response from them. “I have got the skills, but I am under-capitalised,” he said.
