BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
MDC-T deputy president Thokozani Khupe has moved a motion for the operationalisation of the Lupane gas project.
Government accorded the exploration of Lupane gas a national project status in 2007.
Several deadlines for the exploitation have lapsed.
The Lupane-Lubimbi area is estimated to have more than 40 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.
Debating the issue in Parliament last Wednesday, Khupe said: “Lupane district is one area which has one such mineral resource out of the 60 which remains untapped. It is a district which is surrounded by a sea of poverty while at the same time, it has got this lucrative mineral resource coal-bed methane gas, she said.
“This project has seen a lot of ribbon-cutting events to kick-start it.
“This mineral resource is worth billions of dollars and has a potential of generating thousands of jobs in line with National Development Strategy One which anticipates creating at least 760 000 formal jobs in five years.
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“It is, therefore, of paramount importance that this project be kick-started so that we stop importing fertiliser and energy, spending billions of dollars,” she added.
“In view of this, I am, therefore, calling on government as a matter of urgency, to look for a big investor on a build operate and transfer agreement so that the investor deposits about US$10-15 billion to the country and be allowed to harvest the gas for about 20-25 years and then transfer to government.”
In January 2019, government announced that a South African mining company, Tumagole Consortium, had started commercial exploration of gas in the Lupane-Lubimbi area.
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