Safeguarding minerals a collective responsibility
ZIMBABWE can curb mineral leakages through cultivating a sense of responsibility among citizens to safeguard its mineral wealth in order to achieve sustainable development.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services said this in a report on the security of minerals, which was released following an inquiry into the mining of precious minerals in 2022.
“Indeed, safeguarding minerals is not for law enforcement agencies alone; rather, it is everyone’s responsibility,” it said.
“State institutions, private entities, civil society organisations, and the general public, have the responsibility to jealously guard the country’s mineral wealth.
A whole-of-society approach on plugging mineral leakages is critical now than ever before in order to promote sustainable development, peace and security.”
The committee also urged the Government to increase monitoring of the gold mining sector to prevent leakages, which are bleeding the economy.
It said the country’s porous borderline remains a major cause for concern as it provides easy pathways for mineral leakages, particularly gold, and diamonds, which can easily be smuggled out through undesignated exit points, adding officials at ports of entry have limited knowledge of the characteristics of minerals such as gold and diamonds. — New Ziana.
