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Elvis Dumba
Mapinga – A new smart city is expected for Mapinga to serve the proposed US13 Billion Mine to Energy Industrial Park that will serve a US $450 million Lithium salt plant, which is earmarked for Mapinga
The plant will encompass two 300mw thermal power plants, a coking plant, a nickel-chromium alloy smelter, and a nickel sulphate plant.
The plant, once complete, will be the biggest in Africa.
Two Chinese companies, Eagle Canyon International Group Limited, and Pacific Goal Investments, are the major investors in the project, which will create over a thousand jobs for the locals.
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Marian Chombo, said a smart city will be established as a result of the project to ensure the provision of essential services for the people who will be drawn to the establishment
“As a government, wherever there is a development of such nature that will bring together many people to settle at a particular place, we are now required to come on board and provide the necessary infrastructure development for the new settlement and we have moved away from the old ways of doing things like what used to be done at old mining settlements that have since resulted in the old mining towns becoming ghost towns,” she said
Speaking at a public engagement meeting at Glenside Ranch, at Rupanga Family plot in Mapinga, Deputy Minister Chombo said the government has adopted a smart city concept to ensure proper planning in urban development.
“Wherever there is a development of such a magnitude, we know that people will need accommodation and other services, and as Local Government it is our duty to ensure that people have provisions such as accommodation and access to various social services without traveling for long distances. As a ministry, we do not have land but we work hand in hand with partner ministries such as the Ministry of Lands and now as a ministry, we have moved away from the era where we were seeing the sprawling unplanned settlement and we now have a smart city concept which we are going to have at this place where we will before we issue out any stand, have basic infrastructure such as sewer, roads, water, electricity and other amenities in place. Those who will be settling in these new towns will have access to basic services,” she said.
Thousands of people are expected to be drawn to the area as a result of the mining project that will require provisions of accommodation and other services.
The project will help accelerate the country’s achievement towards a US$ 12 billion mining industry by year-end.
Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister, Polite Kambamura, speaking at the same meeting, said the project will ensure value addition and beneficiation for the country’s minerals that will ensure maximum returns for the country.
” This project, besides being the biggest in Africa, will ensure that we grow our mining industry’s profit output as we aim to reach and surpass our US$12 billion mining industry by the end of the year and we can achieve this through value addition,” he said
Deputy Minister Kambamura said in 2017, the mining sector earnings stood at 2,7 billion per year whilst this year the industry has already earned 8,6 billion dollars.
Kambamura said the country was losing out on the export of raw lithium and other minerals, which led to the banning of the exporting of raw Lithium and other minerals such as granite and chrome after realizing how much the country was losing out.
“This mine to energy park project we are discussing here is a result of our visionary leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who in his wisdom ensured that we could earn more from our minerals through value addition. As a ministry, we said anyone who wants to mine Lithium should first have a processing plant before we issue to them a license so that there will be value addition to the mineral,” he said.
Farmers along Great Dyke will have to pave the way for the project and the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has already started the process of ensuring affected farmers are relocating to other places where they can continue with their farming enterprises.
Agriculture Minister, Dr. Anxious Masuka told affected farmers that the government would ensure that they would get all the necessary support for them to settle and continue with their enterprise at new farms.
Dr. Masuka said his ministry will make assessments on the value of affected farmers’ investments for compensation.
“Assessments teams from my ministry will come and assess value for investments you have made at your farms, and working with the office of the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, you will get relocated to new places that you can continue with your farming as this mining project has a significant economic value to the country and you also get compensation for the reduction due to this project but we thought it prudent not to do that through giving you money but since there will be a bigger town than Banket, you will get residential stands as compensation,” he said
Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mary Mliswa-Chikoka thanked the Ministry of Lands for engaging the affected farmers on the way forward that ensures transparency and assurance.
“I would like to thank you, Minister (Dr. Masuka), for leading such an open discussion with the affected farmers so that both parties find each other and understand as we both embrace this mine-to-energy park that will significantly increase our province’s gross domestic product and create employment for our people as we witness our President’s vision for ensuring that no person or place is left behind as we move towards the attainment of an upper middle-income society by the year 2030,” she said