Mozambique: “People live in Moatize, not animals,” resident says

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Mozambique: “People live in Moatize, not animals,” resident says

9:02 CAT | 13 Nov 2018

Vale's coal mine in Tete, central Mozambique. Picture: DW

Vale has announced on Thursday that it resumed operations in a section of the mine after a shutdown following protests by residents of the Bagamoio neighbourhood, who complain of noise, environmental pollution and cracks in dwellings caused by the company’s mining operations.

The parliamentary commissions [of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique] for Social Affairs and Gender, Technology and Communication and for Agriculture, Economy and Environment paid a working visit to Moatize, in the country’s central Tete province, during the week of 29 October to 2 November, to learn more about the Bagamoio residents’ complaints.

A meeting on October 9 between the deputies and civil society organisations heard residents demanding that “the deputies inform the central government that people, not animals, live in Moatize, and that the requests of these people must be granted”.

Mosambik Einwohner von Nhantchere bei einer Besprechung — *Nhantchere resident at a community meeting on damages caused by Vale*

Sound and environmental pollution and cracks in dwellings from blasting are among their complaints, and deputies acknowledged that Nhantchere residents had good grounds for complaining.

Parliament acknowledges that there are problems

Lucinda Malema, vice chair of the parliament’s commission for Social Affairs, Gender, Technology and Communication, said: “We have seen that there is no separation between the Vale mine and the population. The people’s claim is fair, but we think there are mechanisms we can use [to rectify the situation].”

Until they are relocated, Nhantchere residents want the mine to remain closed. “While Vale is thinking of resetting people, the machine cannot work because we are dying,” one of the residents says.

Asked by DW Africa to comment the relocation of the Nhantchere community, Lucinda Malema said that “a middle ground must be found for the residents’ claim to arrive at a solution”.

Civil society demands public disclosure of contract

The Civic Coalition on the Extractive Industry, a civil society organisations platform that monitors the sector, wants the contract between the mining company and the government made public.

“To be able to perceive the various nuances that are in this contract, because Vale always when it wants to justify something uses the same contract. To make this contract available would be a very important step in us understanding what was actually agreed upon,” spokesperson Jessimusse Cacinda says.

The group spokesperson also highlighted a weakness in laws covering mining, pointing out that “there is no mechanism in the mining law that obliges companies to grant access to public information as there is in the Petroleum Law”.

Vale accumulates losses

Mosambik Jessimusse Cacinda (DW/A. Zacarias) — *Jessimusse Cacinda, spokeswoman for the Civic Coalition on Extractive Industry*

In a press conference in Maputo on Thursday, Márcio Gody , chairman of the Vale Mozambique’s board of directors, said that the shutdown at the Moatize II mine would reduce expected annual production from 15 to 12 million tons.

“We are now doing the calculations based on the sequence of events to see if there will be any additional impact,” Gody said.

Lucinda Malema, vice-chair of the parliamentary commission on Social Affairs, Gender, Technology and Communication, said the company recognises that there are problems. “Because of the work we did, they saw that there were problems, reasons for complaining”.

In coordination with Eduardo Mondlane University, the Mozambican government is producing a study on the impacts of environmental pollution in Moatize.