BY STEPHEN CHADENGA
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has issued Musasa Mining Syndicate in Shurugwi with a seven-day ultimatum to rehabilitate the environment after the company started operating without the mandatory environmental impact assessment certificate.
EMA Midlands provincial spokesperson Oswald Ndlovu said the mine was carrying out illegal alluvial gold mining near Mutevekwi River located just outside the mining town.
“The miner was issued with a level 14 ticket and ordered to rehabilitate the area within seven days,” Ndlovu said yesterday.
“As EMA, we will be monitoring the situation to ensure compliance with the environmental protection order.”
Over the years, both illegal and legal mining activities along Mutevekwi River have resulted in the blocking of the river with farmers downstream failing to draw water for irrigation purposes.
Mining activities in the mining town have also left severe environmental degradation with chemicals used by miners such as mercury and cyanide polluting water bodies.
Some villagers have been complaining of losing their domestic animals to poisonous substances.
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Farmer-miner conflicts have also been on the increase in Shurugwi with stakeholders calling for laws that harmonise the two sectors.
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