eBusiness Weekly
Business Reporter
Government and private mining firms responded swiftly to the Battlefields mine disaster as teams were on the ground a few hours after the incident was reported.
It is international best practice that some firms in the same line of business such as mining respond swiftly to save life and plant and equipment upon hearing that a colleague has been stuck by a man made or natural disaster.
Following the Battlefields mine disaster, there were some elements that accused Government of responding lethargically to the mishap that resulted in mine flooding that claimed at least 24 lives, while eight were rescued
The mine disaster occurred early this month when interlinked shafts and tunnels at two mines in Battlefields were flooded after the collapse of a dam wall due to heavy rains received in the area.
Speaking at a Monetary Policy Review breakfast meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Miners Federation on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Polite Kambamura, said claims that Government had not responded promptly to the disaster were not true as the Government team arrived a few moments after the disaster was reported.
He said while the Government team had arrived a few hours after the report was made, the nature of the shafts made it difficult for water to be pumped out timeously.
“I want to make it clear that contrary to what is being reported in the media, Government responded on time to the mine disaster,” said Deputy Minister Kambamura.
He said the challenge was not the time of response, but the nature of the pumps that were brought which were not fit for purpose.
Deputy Minister Kambamura said while big mines such as Zimplats and RioZim had brought pumps, some of them could not be used as the shafts were too small for the size of pumps that were made available.
“The size of shafts and their nature, which are not straight made it difficult for pumps to be used to dewater the shafts. We had to resort to the use of smaller pumps, which takes time……efforts to pump water out of the mines is still ongoing as of now,” he said.
“We are still pumping water from the bigger shaft which goes up to nine levels. The last report I received yesterday is that we are now at two level, we are left with other two levels to be able to reach where we suspect that miners were working,” said Deputy Minister Kambamura.
Deputy Minister Kambamura is one of the many Government officials who took part on the rescue operations and was on the ground for most of the time since the first day.
Many gold miners perish in disused mines where they pan for gold when the shafts reinforcements give in or due to flooding.
