Mozambique: Communities in coal mining area warn of pollution – Watch

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Mozambique: Communities in coal mining area warn of pollution – Watch

5:00 CAT | 19 Aug 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: VOA Portugues]

Residents of the city of Moatize, in Tete province, are complaining about the consequences of increased pollution due to the operations of Vulcan, an Indian group that mines coal in the region.

“Your extraction and mining practices are not in line with any human experience defended and protected within the universal declaration of human rights,” reads a letter delivered to the company by representatives of at least eight neighbourhoods in Moatize, and to which Lusa had access on Sunday (18-08).

Over the last three years, Vulcan has produced more than 35 million tons of coal annually from its mines in Moatize, central Mozambique, purchased in April, 2022, from Brazilian company Vale for more than US$270 million.

According to residents, the company’s operations are putting the health and infrastructure of the communities at risk, leaving the environment “completely inhospitable”.

“We live in a constantly and excessively polluted environment, which compromises, to a large extent, the immune system of adults and the health of new and future generations, the latter being the most vulnerable […]. We are indeed heirs to the damage caused by the exploitation of Vale and, now, Vulcan,” the complainants’ letter reads. The complainants promise not to take the case to the authorities for now, pending solutions emerging.

Lusa tried, without success, to obtain a position from Vulcan.

The private Indian company is part of the Jindal Group, with a market value of US$18 billion (€16.5 billion), which was previously present in Mozambique, operating the Chirodzi mine, also located in the Tete region.

Vale was present in Mozambique for 15 years, having operated the Moatize mine and 912 kilometres of railway in the Nacala Logistics Corridor for the transportation of coal.

In May this year, CEO of Vulcan Mukesh Kumar told Lusa that he expects to mine between 50 and 52 million tons of coal this year, putting the company among the largest producers in the world.

“When we took over in 2022, our production was around 23 or 24 million tons […]. In the last three years, we have increased it to around 35 and 36 million. By the end of this year, we will be reaching around 50 to 52 million tons. This will make us the second largest metallurgical coal mining company in the world,” Kumar said at the time.

Source: Lusa