Residents mull suit against BCL for pollution

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.