Mishandling of explosives endangering ASM
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development is planning to hold an all miner’s awareness campaign to curb mining accidents, an official said.
By Shantel Chisango
Speaking to Mining Zimbabwe, Ministry of Mines’ Engineer Michael Munodawafa said the number of accidents in mines has increased over the recent months and there is a need to educate miners about operating mines.
Engineer Munodawafa said the reason why most accidents occur is that miners are handling explosives without proper knowledge thereby endangering lives.
“Most miners are unaware of what they are supposed to do in mines, and if they are aware they rarely follow the right procedures necessary, “said Eng Munodawafa.
Munodawafa also said miners are skeptical about the Mining Ministry visiting them because of fear of being found on the wrong side of the law hence making it difficult to conduct awareness campaigns.
“We once did an awareness campaign about mining in Mutare, sadly we did not get the outcome we were expecting for only one miner was okay with us using his mine for the survey, the rest feared they might be arrested for being found on the wrong side of the law”.
He added that all miners will be expected to hand in their mining proposal before engaging in any work to allow them to enforce all the procedures which might be needed on the field.
“We are lobbying a requirement to have a proper plan before a mine starts operating, the plan must be updated now and then and must be submitted to the Ministry of Mines for verification, added Engineer Munodawafa.
Miners must have qualified surveyors to make sure that mining processes are correctly followed and that life will not be endangered.