Former Zimbabwe Prospectors Association (ZPA) President Mr. Samson Dzingwe has created a digital mining cadastral system which will be proposed and presented and unveiled to the government in the coming weeks for adoption.
Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga
The government through the Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Winston Chitando has set early 2021 as the deadline by which it should fully implement a computer-based cadastral system in the administration of mining titles from the current manual and inefficient system.
A digital cadastre is a computer-based and up-to-date land information system containing a record of interests in land such as owners’ rights, restrictions and responsibilities, it has been difficult for miners and aspiring miners to access information from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to the point that information that’s supposed to be open to the public was difficult to access.
The creation and proposal of this mining cadastral system by Dzingwe is of significance to the capturing and access of data.
Dzingwe said that he created and proposed the cadastral in order to compliment the government and helping, the Ministry of Mines to achieve its deadline in the implementation of the computer-based cadastral system.
The former ZPA President has said that he took the effort to create the cadastral system in an effort to challenge the Ministry of Mines into action because the implementation of the system is long overdue.
“I proposed it, in order to complement government effort. I’m trying to compliment government effort so that they can see the urgency in terms of the implementation of the digital mining cadastral system which is overdue. The Ministry of Mines has been talking about the implementation of the cadastral system. I think it’s high time they walk the talk.” Dzingwe said.
According to Dzingwe the implementation of the mining cadastral system the country achieve the USD12 billion mining sector by 2023 as this will increase transparency in the industry as well as reduce bottlenecks and corruption related to the issuance of mining title.
He said that the cadastral system in the small scale and artisanal mining sector will increase the urgency in the application processes as well as reducing mining claims disputes which were highly to blame for declining gold productions.
“The cadastral system will help the small-scale miners in terms of the urgency in the application of prospecting and mining licences as the system will accept and reject applications automatically. In terms of convenience, miners will be able to access cadastral maps and all the information of registered claims, who registered the claims and when at any given time without any hindrance or bottlenecks as happening now. It is also going to boost government revenue because it will be easy for the government to track the miners.
“It is going to improve production as disputes will be reduced,” Dzingwe said.
The mining title administration is key towards the achieving of a successful mining industry particularly the US$12 billion annual export industry by 2023 as set out by President Mnangagwa.