Residents mull suit against BCL for pollution
Imi Mokgethi | Thursday December 1, 2016 16:32
The development emerged during a mining and environment workshop held here this week as part of Botswana’s 4th Alternative Mining Forum. At the workshop, the town’s residents asked Zambian environmental lawyer, Kamwenje Nyalugwe whether it is possible to sue the mine and force it to restore the environment to the state it was in before the operations began. BCL Mine reportedly burnt through at least P500 million it had allocated for its rehabilitation during a scramble for cash prior to its liquidation.
One resident, Gorata Keoagile from Mmadinare, said sulphur dioxide emissions from BCL Mine, had devastated farming in the area and even today, farmers could not produce crops on a large scale. “The mine also harvested sand from the Motloutse River, leaving it in a bad state and no rehabilitation has been done to correct the problem,” he said.
“The water in the river has also been polluted to the extent that people no longer drink from the source, which has resulted in shortages in our village. “We do not know where to go now since the mine is no more and the residents are suffering greatly.” Winnie Otsogile from Sefophe said the emissions had rendered backyard gardening impossible, as any vegetables planted were quickly killed off, denying residents potential revenue sources. Otsogile said she has been forced to relocate from Phikwe to save her child whose health was affected by the emissions. She said doctors had since advised her to stay away from the town and its surroundings.
Another resident related a story about her two-year-old child who was diagnosed with a lung infection and failed to receive assistance from the local health facility. “I ended up taking my child to a private hospital in Gaborone where he got help, although the doctor here was against the move. After that, I came back to the doctor in Phikwe and told him to always heed people’s advice and cooperate, because he had refused to hear or cooperate with me. “At some point, I wanted to sue the government for this because the mine greatly affected residents’ health and nothing was being done about it,” she said.
The residents further slammed the government for failing to conduct thorough research on how the mine affected residents’ health.
In her response, Nyalugwe, who facilitated the workshop, told residents that it was possible for communities to take mine owners to court for failing to rehabilitate the environment.
She however, explained that they can only sue against what is provided for in the country’s laws.
“The reclamation and closure plan requires the mine operators to restore the mining area, as far as possible, to where it was before and the licence issuers need to issue the licence looking at that plan. I am informed that the BCL Mine has the plan, but we do not know whether it is being followed,” she explained. Furthermore, she advised residents to start by documenting all their concerns and stories.
“Our main challenge is that we do not have insight into what is going on with BCL, whether it is closing down or being sold. If it is being sold, then it means that it will continue running, meaning that the closure process will not happen,” she said.