In the wake of the mine tragedy that claimed seven lives at Bucks Mine in Colleen bawn, the government is working on capacitating emergency rescue teams to equip miners in all districts to swiftly deal with mine accidents to avert disasters.
Prince Sunduzani
This week, seven miners died when they plunged down a 200-meter shaft after a rope from a winch snapped.
The rescue mission took about three nights, pumping water out of the 240-metre-deep shaft.
Teams from Vumbachikwe Mine and the Ministry of Mines collaborated in the effort.
In an interview with Mining Zimbabwe, the Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Ministry, Dr Polite Kambamura, said the government, in collaboration with the Chamber of Mines, will train and capacitate Emergency Rescue Teams (Proto teams) consisting of small scale miners and teams from large scale operations in every mining district.
He said, in addition to this, they will be conducting awareness campaigns and training on safety to conscientize miners on mine safety measures.
This will assist with preparedness in the event of an accident.
“The Ministry of Mines is conducting safety awareness campaigns and training workshops in all mining districts. We formed joint Ministry of Mines and EMA Inspectorate teams to go around all mining areas checking on compliance,” said Kambamura.
“Government together with Chamber of Mines, will train and capacitate Emergency Rescue Teams (Proto teams) consisting of small scale miners and teams from large scale operations in every mining district”
He called on small scale miners to adhere to mining safety standards enshrined in the Mines and Minerals act.
“Government appreciates the role played by small scale miners, and as such we are concerned about numerous mining accidents happening in the sector. We urge small scale miners to adhere to mining safety standards as set out in the Mines and Minerals Act. Every mining operation must be registered, and have an appointed qualified and competent mine manager who among other duties, administers this Act on the day to day running of the mine,” he said.
Speaking to the media on Sunday at the site of the tragedy, Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Matabeleland South chapter chairman Mr Philemon Mokuele said his association was concerned by the lack of safety knowledge among small scale miners.
As such, he said, ZMF will conduct safety training to reduce the number of mine accidents.
“We saw this accident as a challenge to us because we now understand that most small-scale miners lack knowledge of health and safety which is very important in our mining operations. We’ll be training our miners so that they understand the importance of safety in the mines. Most miners were not taking issues of health and safety seriously such that when we called for training, most miners were not coming. However, this training will be useful in reducing accidents in our mines,” said Mr Mokuele.
