Lafarge stopped from illegal mining in Chikwawa
Chikwawa District Council has issued an order to Lafarge Cement Company stopping it from illegally mining Pozzolana material in the district.
In a letter signed by the Chikwawa District Council Environmental Officer, Ellina Mkandawire, the Council has said Lafarge Cement Company had, since last September, been operating an illegal mine at Nyaika Village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Ngabu.
She said in the letter that earlier this month, communities had notified the office of environment of the mining activities which started in September, 2019 by Lafarge Cement Company based in Blantyre in collaboration with John Nkhoma.
“On June 12, 2020, the Council noted that two trucks belonging to Lafarge had ferried six full tracks of Pozzolana to Blantyre in a single day,” the letter reads in part.
Mkandawire said the Council established that Lafarge Cement Company has no license to operate in Chikwawa, circumventing government laws under Mines and Minerals Act, Labour Act, Local Government Act (1998) and Environmental Management Act (2017).
“We asked the company’s officials who claimed that they don’t own the mine apart from buying Pozzolana from an individual (Mr. Nkhoma). When we quizzed Nkhoma, he said it was just an exploration venture. We immediately issued a stop order notice which will result in legal proceedings if it will not be complied with,” she added.
However, officials from Lafarge Cement Company were non-committal and pushed this reporter to Nkhoma when contacted.
Nkhoma, who owns Chawandama Geo-Consultants, confirmed about the stop order, saying he was carrying out feasibility studies.
“Indeed, a stop order has been issued. However the area is not under Lafarge; I am only carrying out feasibility studies, one of which, is to establish if the materials are suitable for use by the company,” Nkhoma said in an email response.
He claimed that he has a license and bought the land from the villagers who owned it.
“I have already submitted an application for small scale mining of the soils and will be interacting with the district council and chiefs once approved,” Nkhoma pointed out.
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Eleanor ,this weekend i will invite you to my holiday condo in Salima.
It’s Eleanor osati Ellina, osanyasisa dzina la mahope anga😎
Takumvani Biggie
Kusilira mkazi wamwini ndi kulakwa, koma kuyamikira mkazi wamwini si kulakwa. Ellina ndiwe okongola mbambande bullet.💋 Izo ziri apo, you have done well to expose this malpractice now. Everybody knows that you could not have done this during the dark days of DPP rule ( or is it misrule? ) otherwise you could have lost your job. Advice to all relevant public officers who were turning a blind eye to malpractices in public institutions for fear of losing jobs or worse: Now is the time to expose all and sundry so that concerned culprits should be brought to book, and… Read more »
Akuti ali single,ndee tipange bwanji?
This must be the dirty work of cement competitors like Njati, who just want to disturb and destroy genuine cement companies like Lafarge.
Well done Ms. Mkandawire. Mr. Nkhoma should know that Feasibility study is part of the EIA process and as such, requires approval for the site to be used. Such tendencies that Mr. Nkhoma is practicing are tantamount yo thieving. In fact he has to be persecuted.
Komatu….so since Sept 19 and you act now Ellina, and this Mr Nkhoma is carrying a study without Govt approval?? You see now DPP why you are out of govt, and nobody don’t care about your exit?? Everyone was doing what he want and authorities were not acting.. very Pathetic..
Way to go! Bravo sister
Anything to assist in reducing the cost of cement will be helpful Government makes more money on the final product,
Lets not beat about the Bush here. These are some if the dirty work of DPP Government. Chikwawa DC osatinamizapo apa. You knew about this koma munali ndi mantha ndi Boma la DPP thats why from September you have jst been quite.