Mining
Tension over Chitipa’s Illomba Granite Mine
January 22, 2020 / Tawonga Nyirenda Mayuni
There is uncertainty over the reopening of Ilomba granite sodalite mine in Mbilima, Chitipa as the people of the area through a civil society group dubbed the Concerned Citizens of Chitipa (CCC) have put their foot down that the mine will not reopen until the investor honors Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligations.
Production at Ilomba was suspended in November 2019 following protests by the Concerned Citizens who were demanding that government closes the mine for failing to honor corporate social responsibility obligations.
The protests turned violent as the protesters burnt shelters of mine workers and even seized a vehicle which was supposed to carry the product for export.
In response, Ilomba Granite Mine Company sued leaders of the Concerned Citizens in December 2019, and applied for an interlocutory injunction restraining the people of Mbilima from interfering with the operations of the company through protests or whatsoever.
But during a court hearing at Mzuzu High court on January 6, Ilomba withdrew the case “in the interests of peace, and to avoid further conflicts and ease tension.”
Chairperson of Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN), Kossam Munthali, who was one of the defendants said he was delighted that the case was dismissed with no costs attached to it.
However, the Concerned Citizens have stood their ground that the mine be temporarily closed “until some sticky issues are sorted out regarding the Chinese miners.”
“Our demand still remain that the mine be temporarily closed until some sticky issues are sorted out, the communities need to be told who the Chinese miners are because the license holder is a Malawian of Asian origin Faisal Hassen, furthermore the new Chinese owners did not carry out any community sensitization,” said Chairperson of the Civil Society Network Sydney Simwaka.
Hassen, however, dismissed the CCC’s assertions saying his Chinese partners met up with the traditional leaders of the area before commissioning mining operations.
Hasssen said on Mining Review readers Whatsapp group: “The truth is that we have done nothing wrong as a Company. When my Chinese partners moved to the site and met up with the chiefs, they were overwhelmed by the welcome they received hence they pledged to assist the community. Among others, they pledged a borehole, the building of a classroom and a clinic. The borehole has already been completed and the other projects are on their way.”
But commenting on Hassen’s remarks, Munthali described them as an insult to the community of Mbilima explaining that constructing a borehole alone is not enough considering the 24 years that the company has been in operation in the area.
Munthali also lashed out at Ilomba Mining Company for being secretive in its dealings.
He said:“What even shocked the community when we met was the size of their mining area which is 3.4 square kilometers, implying all the villages in Mbilima area are within the mining area.”
This information was not even known to the community, so hiding the information for 24 years is not fair.
“The people do not even know who the Chinese people are, they were just surprised.”
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Rehabilitation:
The establishment of a stable and self-sustaining ecosystem, but not necessarily the one that existed before mining began. In many cases, complete restoration may be impossible, but successful remediation, reclamation, and rehabilitation can result in the timely establishment of a functional ecosystem.
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Remediation:
The cleanup of the contaminated area to safe levels by removing or isolating contaminants. At mine sites, remediation often consists of isolating contaminated material in pre-existing tailings storage facilities, capping tailings and waste rock stockpiles with clean topsoil, and collecting and treating any contaminated mine water if necessary.
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