05 Mar 2014

The department of mines, since the last investigations in 2003, has not received any complaints regarding cracking of houses at Phase Six in Monarch due to blast vibrations or fly rock.

The Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Kitso Mokaila said in 2003, following complaints of houses cracking, the department of mines investigated these allegations, but the investigations could not conclusively link the cracking of houses to the quarrying operations.

Responding to a question from the MP for Francistown West, Dr Habaudi Hubona in Parliament on March 4, Mr Mokaila said he was aware of complaints that houses in Phase Six, Francistown, were developing cracks due to the blasting operations at Panda Quarry, which is located about one kilometre away from residential areas, in the Monarch area.

He said in 2009, before the mining license for the quarry was reviewed, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was conducted by the company in compliance with EIA Act of 2005 and the Mines and Minerals Act of 1999 requirement.

In the assessment, he said, the company identified the problem of cracks developing on the buildings as a possible impact, and it was being mitigated by minimising the amount of explosives denoted at any time to reduce the intensity of ground vibrations and fly rock.

Dr Hubona had asked the minister if he was aware of complaints by residents of Phase Six in Francistown’s Monarch location, whose houses had developed cracks on account of quarry blasting company located close to the residential area.

She also asked if so, would the minister confirm whether an EUA study was carried out before the quarry was licensed to operate in the area. BOPA