HWANGE – The US$31,2 million dollar equipment recently commissioned for Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) is giving management headaches amid allegations that some of the machines are second hand despite purchased with a sovereign guarantee.
Barely a month after the coal mining giant celebrated a huge capital injection of US$31,2 million in equipment for open cast mining, the joy seems to be short lived as the equipment is not performing to expectations.
Highly placed sources say the equipment is always down with reports of oil leaks and failure even to lift a bucket of coal, a development that has left management worried.
Another source alleged that the equipment could be second hand, considering multiple problems being realised on a daily basis, adding that one engineer who was part of the delegation to India from where some of the equipment was sourced, raised the red flag when the equipment arrived in the country after noticing differences with the one they had inspected in India.
Contacted for comment, HCCL Managing Director, Engineer Thomas Makore admitted that there are problems with some of the machines which are leaking hydraulic oil, saying initial assessments have proved that it is a factory defect.
Engineer Makore also pointed out that the supplier is currently attending to the problem since the equipment has a warranty and if it was second hand, it would have different problems on each machine.
A source said the problems with the equipment might affect the operations of the mining company, considering that the machines have a sovereign guarantee.
According to Engineer Makore, the faulty components have been despatched and will be expected this week. ZBC
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