Association embarks on K38m project
The Quadria Muslim Association of Malawi (QMAM) has embarked on a two-year K38 million project in Mangochi and Balaka to promote citizen participation in mining issues and address challenges people face in areas where mining take place.
QMAM executive director Saiti Jambo disclosed this in Mangochi last Wednesday during a meeting to sensitise community leaders to their rights on mining issues.
Said Jambo: “There is an information gap among the people on the mining sector. Communities are not directly involved and this results in many people’s rights being violated.
“In areas where mining take place, a lot of hazardous things happen and people’s rights are violated but since they don’t actively participate in mining issues the end result is that they don’t know where to report and they suffer in silence,” he said
Jambo said capacity building will enhance the project’s aim of promoting increased inclusion and responsiveness in Malawi’s mining sector.
“Our focus is on areas where there is mining and where mining exploration is taking place. Therefore, in Mangochi we are in traditional authorities Mponda, Bwananyambi and Makanjira, he said.
Funded by Tilitonse and managed by the Norwegian Church Aid, QMAM is expected to contribute towards a transparent, accountable and responsive mining regime that benefits the people of Malawi when phasing out in August 2015.
