Mine Conflicts Solvabale

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

19 May 2011

editorial

The recent fatal confrontation between villagers and security forces in Tarime has once again brought into sharp focus the simmering tensions between a mining company and the local community. Unfortunately, this is the deadly scenario the investor in the North Mara Gold Mine in northeastern Tanzania has to continuously grapple with.

Since the arrival of Barrick Gold, we have witnessed seemingly endless fights pitting the company against some members of the surrounding community.

The latest round has drawn in the local MP, whose motorcade was pelted with stones, when he and other local leaders went to the area to condole with the families of five people killed by police. It is hardly surprising because the locals see their leaders as not keen to help solve their problems.

The locals have been complaining about not having been compensated after being evicted to pave the way for the mining project. The villagers, who were small-scale miners, feel they have been sidelined from their source of livelihood, subjecting them to abject poverty. There has been a litany of other complaints, including the alleged poisoning of a river.

This problem calls for a comprehensive solution that can only come out of the involvement of all the stakeholders, including the government, to exhaustively thrash out all the issues.

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