Chitipa Community rebuffs investor’s plea to reopen Ilomba mine
Communities surrounding Ilomba Granite Mine at Mbirima in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwaulambya in Chitipa, have vowed to stop resumption of the mine’s operation, unless their demands are met.
Speaking at an interface meeting between the community and the investors Friday, Senior Group Village Headman Mwenembirima said since the establishment of the mine, communities have not benefitted from the mine as expected.
“Since the opening of the mine, we have never seen anything done in our community as if the people here do not matter at all, so enough is enough.
“We will not let them continue mining until everything we want has been granted,” said Mwenembirima.
He said communities demanded five boreholes, electricity, a health clinic, gravel on the road from Ilomba to Mbirima which is about 2 Kilometers, a teacher’s house and a classroom block each at Ilomba and Kaoma Primary Schools, before the mine is reopened.
Chairperson for Natural Resources Justice Network in Malawi, Cossam Munthali, said Civil Society Organizations will always stand with the people in their quest to benefit from the lucrative mining industry.
“It is shocking that since 1995 there is nothing tangible to show here, so this community has set a standard which will have a huge impact on all mining companies in Malawi who mainly use shortcuts to exploit our land for minerals without the people benefitting,” said Munthali.
The mine, which is operated by Chinese investors although it is licensed to a Malawian named Faisal Khalid Hassan, was temporarily closed on October 28 after the community seized a truck load of Soda Light Granite which was about to be exported.
In his response, the owner of the mine, Faisal Khalid Hassan said his economic rights are being violated.
He pledged to sit down with his business partners to map the way forward on how to meet the demands of the community.
Regional mining engineer for the north, George Maneya said Ilomba Granite Mining Company Ltd. was issued license number ML0019/95 on June 28, 1995 which is set to expire on June 28, 2020.
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Kuno ma China Ayo. Ngakunba amenewo. Sitikuwafuna. Awononganso munyanga yanjobvu zathu. Amazowombela mfiti yogoneka tulo then amatenga Petro ndi zijwanje nkumachosa munyanga. Most o the elephants have no tasks nowwww
Pepani, ma demands ameneyo. It’s too much. How much do all those demands cost? Everyone is suffering in malawi !!! You want your country to move forward, let the investors do their job first. Instead of acting like hooligans seizing trucks why not act on talking first. I disagree with this village nonsense.
The demands are not too much, ndiponso ndiochepa kwambiri. From 1995 anakakhala amamanga zinthuzo chimodzichimodzi bwenzi pano atamaliza. Atseke basi
Chitipa people stand up for your rights, dont give up. You are not violating anybodys rights, it your land obtained from you by crooks to benefit foreigners. Khalid is another sellout
Saunders you are a fool. Iv been reading all your comments on every article. Koma. You don’t have anything better to do in your life.
You are the most fooling one not Saunders
in fact, you are the foolish idiot yourself. what is wrong with you? If Saunders has nothing to do in life, how does that relate to this? and what is your concern? Just used to steal from poor people. IDIOT
How can they issue such a contract? From 1995 to 2020 hmmmmmmmm
Through bribing politicians, these people will have the licence renewed. This is Malawi, think of how they got there. Even the feasibility study report could be a fabricated one. The problem is that the people surrounding the area will continue to suffer as a result of environmental degradation, pollution etc while government officials and politicians are getting richer and richer out of these deals. Worse still the investors themselves are always foreigners, who are benefiting a lot than the locals.
Ordinary Malawians will always be poor while a selected connected people become richer and richer.
When the license expires do not renew it. We are tired of thieves wearing an investors jacket. To hell with this nonsense
Don’t even give them a chance till the licence expires. If they know the licence won’t be renewed, they will extract more and leave the land with barely enough for others to be attracted to the site
Aise, antu ku malawi are failing to mine, give the job to investor to help. The villages are fools. Why not talk to the chiefs first.
Talk to the chiefs, so what? For more than 24 years, what have you don’t to them? We would rather perish with our mines that allowing you to steal from us. Actually, the villager is even much wiser than you IDIOT.