Parly committee to visit diamond centre

Sunday, 09 February 2014 00:20 View Comments Sunday Mail ReporterThe parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines and Energy is set to tour the Zimbabwe Diamond Technology Centre in Mt Hampden tomorrow as it kick-starts its assessment programme on projects that promote value addition in mining.




The diamond centre, which is expected to be the country’s cutting and polishing hub, is currently under construction and is expected to be operational before the end of the first half of the year.


 


In an interview last week, the chairman of the committee, Cde Lovemore Matuke, said the committee members had realised the potential of the centre in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation (Zim Asset).


 


“The Mines and Energy committee is now starting to go on the ground to assess operations in our sector.  As a starting point, we are going to visit the Zimbabwe Diamond Centre which is under construction in Mt Hampden.


 


“According to what we have heard, the centre could hold the key to our economic success if it is utilised fully. We are going to assess what needs to be done for the project to kick off so that we can play our oversight function and approach the relevant authorities,” he said.


 


Cde Matuke said the committee was worried about the continued export of Zimbabwe’s diamonds in their raw form.“The issue of diamonds is very important, but we seem not to be doing the right things. We should ask ourselves why countries such as Botswana are relying almost solely on diamonds for their economies to prosper. We need to understand why we are failing to prosper,” Cde Matuke.


 


“It seems that in mining, we are not walking the talk. We have been talking about value addition and it seems to be just a talk show. There are no actual projects on the ground that really show that we are adding value to our minerals,” he said.


 


Zimbabwe Diamond Technology Centre chairman Mr Lovemore Kurotwi said US$5 million has been invested into the construction of the centre to date.


 


He said the centre should be operational within two months.“Construction of some of the structures at the centre is nearing completion. We expect that in two months’ time, we will be operational and the cutting and polishing of diamonds will be taking place.


 


“We are excited about the project because and if we get support from all stakeholders, the centre will be a one-stop shop that creates a multi-million-dollar industry.


 


“Other countries in the region such as Botswana, Namibia and South Africa all have such centres which are contributing positively to their economies,” he said.

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