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Pinda outlines plans to make mining safer
2008-04-11 10:29:59
By Lydia Shekighenda, Dodoma
Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday outlined for review policies governing small-scale mining in the country to help improve safety and scale down the incidence of disasters at mining sites.
In specific reference to the recent accident that claimed the lives of an estimated 70 small-scale miners at the Mererani tanzanite mining site in Simanjiro District, Manyara Region, the Premier underscored the need for looking afresh at policies on small-scale mining.
Speaking during the recently introduced parliamentary system of brief-and-direct questions to the Prime Minister in the National Assembly, Pinda explained that small-scale miners were facing serious problems whose solution called for collective effort.
His remarks come barely two weeks since the Mererani tragedy that saw flash floods due to torrential rains trap at least 158 small-scale miners underground.
“The problem of small-scale miners is not life insurance.
They are facing a number of problems that need the government and other key stakeholders to jointly review the policies governing their operations,” he said.
Pinda noted that reviewing the policies would help safeguard or save the lives of Tanzanians working in the mining sector, especially at sites where safety measures are not strictly observed.
The recent disaster at Mererani sites should serve as a reminder to all key stakeholders and the larger public on the need to put in place a mechanism for disaster preparedness and management in the future, cautioned Pinda.
He made the comment when responding to a question by Lazaro Nyalandu (Singida North - CCM), who had wanted to know why the government was “dragging its legs” in taking appropriate steps to insure the lives of small-scale miners.
The legislator had expressed his concern over what he called poor work conditions and unacceptable safety standards at mining sites in the county, specifically the Mererani disaster.
Pinda admitted that small-scale miners were working in a dangerous environment, using poor equipment and putting their safety in jeopardy.
“But mishaps of this nature need to be urgently addressed,” he said, adding: “There is a need for the government to go beyond these problems and initiate serious policy reforms to change and improve the operations of small miners in the country.”
Mining accidents in Tanzania have a long history and the Premier’s proposal could help in addressing them.
In 2002 some 48 miners were killed at the Mererani site when a compressor used in pumping clean air failed.
The same year, some 39 tanzanite miners died after inhaling carbon monoxide produced from a dynamite explosion - one of the many fatal mining-related accidents in the country.
There was yet another mining disaster in 1998 in which 70 people were killed when heavy rains caused a mine to collapse.
Tanzanite mines at Mererani were discovered in the late 1960s and at some pits the gemstone is still mined haphazardly by small-scale prospectors running on a shaky capital base and using crude, unsafe technology.
Many dig in highly unsafe and unstable mines as deep as 300 metres using gardening implements.
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