A DEPUTY Minister in the Vice-President’s Office, Union Matters and Environment, Mr Luhaga Mpina has personally supervised collection of water samples from North Mara Gold Mine.
The samples will now be tested to prove
if the water is free from unwanted chemicals. Experts from the Tanzania
Bureau of Standard (TBS) and SGS, an international company, were
involved in collecting the water samples from several points.
The day-long exercise, which took about six hours, was held inside and outside the mine on Saturday.
“SGS and TBS will carry out the testing
and we will get the results from both sides and make a comparison”, Mr
Mpina said during the exercise when he was speaking to villagers
surrounding the gold mine.
The deputy minister said he had decided
to supervise the exercise so as to ensure that the truth is known. I
have been forced to come myself and there is no doubt about how the
exercise has started”, he said.
Mr Mpina was accompanied by the Director
General of National Environmental Council (NEMC), Engineer Bonaventure
Baya, councillors of wards from villages around the mine and Tarime
District leaders.
He said the government is determined to
end the complaints related to water coming from the mine. “We must find a
lasting solution and this issue must come to an end”, Mr Mpina noted.
The deputy minister assured local residents that he will bring back the results after the testing.
This was the second time for Deputy
Minister Mpina to make a working tour at the mine on almost a similar
mission that seeks to ensure that anything that comes from the mine does
not cause harm to the environment and users including people, animals
and plants.
“We also wanted to prove whether what
the gold mine claims to be treated water meets the required standards “,
the NEMC Director General, Engineer Baya’ told the ‘Daily News’ at the
scene. North Mara is one of the gold mines operated by Acacia,
Tanzania’s leading gold producer.
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