ZELA seeks for the adoption of compensation, relocation law
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) is seeking for the establishment of Mines and Minerals compensation and relocation law to ensure communities affected by mining are fairly relocated and compensated.
Rudairo Mapuranga
At a workshop held at Cresta Oasis Hotel in Harare on Thursday where a number of stakeholders attended including Rural District Councils, CSOs and community-based organisations, ZELA led a discussion on how mining companies should compensate communities when affected by mining operations.
ZELA’s proposed regulations seek to ensure that where relocation of communities due to mining activities is found to be necessary, such relocation is carried out fairly and transparently, and that the affected community is adequately compensated and provided with essential services and support.
The regulations also emphasize the importance of minimizing negative impacts on the environment and the health and safety of the community.
Speaking at the workshop Proud Nyakure from Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Miners Workers Union (ZIDAWU) said it was of importance for companies to engage communities to ensure proper and fair compensation.
She said the government and Mining companies should ensure they adopt the United Nations’ guiding principles on business making while mining could bring economic benefits for the country, human rights are not affected at the same time.
“The first one is the government and the mining companies should ensure that they adopt the UN guiding principles making sure they enhance the duties to protect and respect human rights and ensure that they is remedy when human rights are being violated.
“It is also important to look at the positives of where people are being relocated to,” She said.
Zephania Nhidza Mutoko Rural District Council Executive Officer Shared Services said it was of important stance by ZELA to draft a law governing compensation and relocation as a result of mining operations.
He said communities were being threatened by supposedly bigger powers to sign documents that they don’t understand ending up not receiving compensation.
He said the law that will provide a free and fair engagement platform was a welcome move to ensure communities benefit.
“We have learnt that it is possible to ensure communities benefit from mining when affected interns of relocation. We have seen that engagements are of importance to ensure the miners and communities benefit. People have been threatened and thereafter the miner would end up compensating a few chosen by other powers involved in the matrix,” he said.
According to Obert Bore from ZELA, every holder of a mining right shall, before the commencement of its mining activities, prepare a comprehensive Social Impact Assessment (SIA) of its approved mining activities in order to assess mining activity feasibility in terms of the possible social impact such mining activities might have on any owner or occupier of land or a community.
Once the Social Impact Assessment has been reviewed and it has been found that relocation or compensation is likely, the holder of a mining right shall inform the public of the intention of such holder of a mining right to carry out mining activities that have the potential to induce displacement of affected persons from their places of occupation and of available opportunities to participate in such decisions.
“The framework will address challenges including the rights of children affected and relocation. Children must also participate and they must be heard,” he said.