06 Mar 2023

 Government has no plans to close the Masama coal mine, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi has told Parliament.

Minister Moagi revealed this when he was responding to a question during the ministers’ question time in Parliament recently.

He told Parliament that only a company named Jarcon which was just a sub-contractor engaged by the parent company, Minergy Coal was retrenching staff due to its own challenges, which should not be perceived to be a threat to the operations of the mine.

“The company’s restructuring process is not an implication of closure of the mine and I can confirm that there is no such plan to close,” he said.

Mr Moagi also assured that the impact of Jarcon’s restructuring was being addressed by the ministry and the parent company and due process of conducting an environmental and social impact assessment was always followed before issuing a mining licenses.

He said such process was also iterative such that it could be adjusted and improved while operations were ongoing, without necessarily meaning that the initial assessment was not approved or was flawed.

“The company’s environmental and social impact assessment was approved in December 2017 and its mining license was subsequently approved in December 2018,” he said.

He also said procedurally, a pre-blast survey was conducted by the mine in 2018 prior to mining commencement to ensure that blasting mine activities did not negatively impact the community and associate infrastructure.

He however, said some community members had since filed claims of property damage due to mining activities, and follow up engagements between the said community and the license holder was held as recent as the last quarter of last year.

Mr Moagi also said that the ministry had undertaken a review of some of the claims and assured that he would ensure that the matter was settled in an equitable and just manner should there be evidence that indeed some damage to property occurred due to mining activities.

Mr Moagi said despite a few challenges, mining activities as sanctioned by government had continued to have a positive effect on immediate communities including jobs creation, skills development and business development.

“We continue to work with mining companies within Botswana to ensure increase in value creation for the communities in which they operate as well as Botswana in general,” he said.

On other issues, Mr Moagi also hailed government’s decision to invest in local coal resources against global headwinds, as he said the move had proven to be the right decision for the country.

“We celebrate this visible development in infrastructure, skills development and citizen business participation of our people in the localities on these mines and even beyond, and we continue to work tirelessly to enhance this participation in a sustainable manner,” he said.

Member of Parliament for Sefhare/Ramokgonani, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang enquired on circumstances that could lead to the closure of Masama Coal mine and whether the minister was aware of the advanced plans to close it despite a surge in global coal prices partly propelled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Dr Gobotswang had also asked the minister if he was aware that the first environmental impact assessment was rejected and whether families whose house showed cracks associated with blasting. ends