Minister dismisses pleas for ‘magwangala

Correspondent

THE Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof. Sospeter Muhongo, has dismissed as baseless and unwarranted the move by some politicians forcing major mining companies to provide local citizens with waste rock materials generated by the extraction of gold, commonly known as magwangala.

“This is uncalled for and should not be entertained in the era of the 21st century,” said Prof. Muhongo while winding up debate on his ministry’s budget estimates for 2016/17 financial year in Dodoma last Friday. He said it was not proper to politicize and embrace such issues, saying it was unproductive.
He warned the politicians not to entertain the matter. Politicians in mining areas have been raising the issue of waste rock materials time and again, claiming that the waste contained gold which could be used by citizens after filtering, and earn a living.
Scientific assessment carried out on the waste rock materials shows that the waste from goldmines contains below 0.4 per cent of gold per tonne. According to the survey and the evaluation, the amount available is too low to justify the cost of filtering.
Moreover, the issue of waste rock materials is controlled by mining laws that clearly stipulate how to handle the debris caused by mining.
Mining is governed by the laws of mining under the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, environmental regulations which are managed by the Ministry responsible for Environment, the rules of safety at work place and the Ministry of Labour, rules of the industry that are under the Ministry of Industry and trade with the law and international conventions on massive extraction of minerals.
The move by some politicians trying to force delivery of waste rock materials and throw in areas outside the mine is not only a violation of the laws of Tanzania but also a violation of the international laws and regulations regarding the disposal of wastes emanating from mining.
There have been many years of tension between the owners of large mines in the country, especially the popular Geita Gold Mine (GGM) and that of North Mara, where politicians have been imploring citizens to force to be supplied with waste rock materials. Geita District Council has been at the forefront in demanding that the waste rock materials should be given to all the citizens living in villages surrounding the mine. Regardless of the existence of national and international laws regarding the disposal of debris caused by mining, Geita District Council directed GGM’s leadership to distribute the waste in all villages. Instructions of the District Council of Geita of June 10, 2011 appealed to the leadership of GGM to ensure that it distributes the waste rock materials in villages surrounding the mine, notwithstanding that doing so will not only endanger the lives of local residents in the areas, but also break Tanzanian and international laws. GGM responded that it was impossible, the answer that placed a cloud of misunderstandings between the mine management and some politicians who have been using waste rock materials as political capital.