By Tichaona Sibanda
Villagers relocated from Chiadzwa to the Arda Transau resettlement area, to make way for diamond mining operations in Marange, on Tuesday blasted the Chinese run firm Anjin investments for being ‘cruel and insensitive’ to their plight.
When the 471 villagers were relocated to the Transau area, Anjin reportedly promised to provide the villagers with clean water, electricity and food. They were also promised farming inputs to restart their farming activities.
But Cephas Gwayagwaya, a spokesman for the villagers, told SW Radio Africa that three years down the line they’re still waiting for Anjin to provide what they promised.
‘The only way I can describe Anjin is that they are worse than the devil himself. They are cruel, insensitive and perennial liars,’ Gwayagwaya said.
He claimed that while the extraction of diamonds from where they used to live continues to benefit outsiders, their welfare remains in the doldrums.
‘We led self sustaining lives before we were forcibly removed from Chiadzwa. We had a good life, we farmed on good land and we produced enough for our families and the surplus we sold to the Grain Marketing Board,’ he said.
Under a memorandum between diamond firms and the government, each company was supposed to build a primary and secondary school and clinic and provide clean water and income generating projects.
‘We were promised irrigation pipes by Anjin that would have helped us start our farming projects. Nothing has materialized and we are penniless and living on hand to mouth.
‘We do not want to be spoon fed, we want them to empower us, we’ve got the hands and skills to survive on income generating projects like we used to do before we were relocated,’ Gwayagwaya added.
He explained that they have tried to visit government officials from district, provincial and cabinet level to air their grievances, but to no avail. He accused ZANU PF officials of pretending to sympathise with their plight before the elections, only to disappear after the July 31st polls. SW Radio Africa
