Takudzwa Changadeya
HWANGE: Communities near the Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) are seeking government intervention as underground fires ignite fears of displacement, environmental damage, and health risks.
These fires, which erupted at the HCCL site operated by a Chinese company, are putting both local villages and the nearby Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) generation plant in danger.
For residents like Nicolas Munhema, the situation has become intolerable.
“We’ve been smelling smoke and dealing with choking gases for hours now.
“My family and I are struggling to breathe, and we are now worried that this could result in us being forced to leave our home,” Munhema expressed.
The latest report of fire breaking out was on October 31 2024.
Toxic smoke that emanates from the fire is one major health concern residents of Hwangwe Village 2, 5 and Madumabisa have raised.
These fires are not new to Hwange and have often affected children who unknowingly venture into unsecured areas.
Greater Hwange Residents Trust (GWRT) Coordinator Fidelis Chima said underground and surface fires killed two children in recent years and injured more than a dozen people. He accused the company of not taking the threat seriously.
According to a 2021 report by the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), multiple children have sustained permanent injuries from stepping into coal seams that ignite beneath them.
The report details the story of an eight-year-old who suffered severe burns across her body after falling into an unsecured coal seam.
“This place is getting more hazardous every day, and no one is doing anything about it. If the government doesn’t act, we are in inevitable trouble,” added another local, Charles Kuwaranza.
For children and families who survive this coal seam fires, the trauma and medical needs can be lifelong.
The CNRG report highlighted, “This report is a call to action to the Government of Zimbabwe and an invitation for dialogue among mining stakeholders in Hwange on reducing and bringing to an end these incidences.”
Despite constitutional obligations to safeguard community welfare, the government and HCCL have not implemented enough safety measures, leaving local families and especially children vulnerable to these dangerous fires.
In one incident, Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando visited a site where a road was ripped apart by the coal fires and promised that Hwange Colliery Company was putting in place measures to deal with the problem.
Government way back promised to hire a German company that could extinguish the fires but no progress has been recorded to date.
