By Sifelani Murambiwa.
CHISUMBANJE, Zimbabwe. (News Of The South)-Zanu Ndonga President Wilson Kumbula has lashed at the Zimbabwean government for failing to address grievances which are being peddled by Chisumbanje villagers against ethanol producer, Green Fuel.
Kumbula said more than 1754 households which were displaced to pave way for the multimillion dollar ethanol project are seething in anger after none of their promised eviction packages were delivered.
He said the displacement of villagers who owned more than 100 hectares of arable land at which they seriously produced cotton has created a poverty gap which is cannot be addressed by the 2 acres of irrigation land which they were offered.
“Checheche was known as the country’s major cotton producer. Each farmer used to deliver 30 to 40 bales of cotton to ginners but all this has been killed and now lies in the history books. The coming of
the Green Fuel Project was highly published with some claiming this was a godly answer to the people of Chisumbanje but looking at it realistically there is absolutely nothing worth smiling at as
villagers have been reduced to beggers,” said Kumbula.
Kumbula said villagers were disempowered the very moment government agreed to allow Bill Rautenbach to setup his controversial business empire.
“Traditionally, we are subsistence farmers who rely mainly on placing a big piece of land under crops so that we harvest more. Now that no the case, villagers were given 2 acres of land and you expect our extended families to survive on such a piece of land. Its not practical, we have a habit of empowering our children by giving them pieces of land if they get married but now we are stuck, we can’t share that acre,” said Kumbula.
Villagers complained early this year when a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Development visited the plant with some saying their major source of domestic water, Save River was being polluted by chemicals being dumped by Green Fuel.
Other villagers complained against their Member of Parliament, Enock Porusingazi who was recently sacked by Zanu PF under unclear charges for allegedly conniving with Green Fuel management to gag the displaced villagers from speaking out about the company.
“1 754 households were displaced and only 516 were relocated since its operations began.
The company is just after profit and doesn’t care about our welfare. I am now suffering with my children as my land was taken without any compensation,” said one villager.
Khumbula however said some villagers are now crossing the boarders into Mozambique were they are being offered land to undertake their Agricultural activities.
“Look at the Checheche-Tanganda Road, it’s now in a mess, you won’t like the pot holes which you will face when traveling. The company doesn’t even care about all that, all they want is profit. They are not paying villagers whom they are using for cultivating their fields and you wonder what kind of a company are they,” said Khumbula.
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