Disgruntled citizens in Balaka have petitioned the government to halt the compensation process for their land acquired by Portland Cement Malawi Limited until all bottlenecks are resolved.
The petition was presented through Balaka District Commissioner (DC) Tamanya Harawa during a stakeholders interface meeting convened to thrash out the people’s concerns.
Over 200 distressed people from Ng’onga Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nsamala in the district are disputing the manner in which their compensation package and relocation exercise were handled.
The company ventured into the $100 million (about K175 billion) Balaka Portland Cement Integrated Plant expansion project at Ng’onga Hill Mine which the local community alleges has turned them into destitute.
The company wants to mine limestone, which is used for cement production.
Team leader Alinane Ndanga read the petition which contained 27 concerns mainly bordering on compensation for the first phase which they claim was reduced by 30 percent and suspension of compensation for second phase they alleged has omissions and must be addressed before payment is effected.
The letter also raised operational issues relating to air and noise pollution, siltation, environmental degradation and alleged ill-treatment of Malawians working for the company.
“We are not satisfied with the meagre compensation package. What they are doing is land grabbing and not legal acquisition of our productive land.
“Besides, the company has no regard for humans. We are experiencing siltation, excessive noise and air pollution which have significantly impacted our lives. So, we have given them 30 days to resolve all these,” she stated.
While acknowledging the community’s concerns, Harawa said he would seek guidance from the Ministry of Lands on how to address the issues raised.
“We have also set up a task force that is quickly going to look at the concerns of the people,” he said.
On her part, Portland’s head of marketing, administration and corporate affairs Violet Vilili commended the community for raising their various concerns associated with the project.
However, she insisted her company complied with all relevant regulations and all their operations, engagements and actions were being guided by various institutions they have been working with.
She said: “Looking at the issues, it is apparent that in terms of engagement between the community and various stakeholders may have been enhanced and we look forward to clarifying all these issues raised through the respective offices.”
The meeting followed a demand the Center for Democracy and Economic Development Initiative (Cdedi) made to the company to suspend operations at the project site until compensation and relocation disputes are resolved.
In an interview after the meeting, Cdedi executive director Silvester Namiwa expressed delight that “perceived weak and marginalized citizens” were able to hold duty bearers accountable.
“It’s good the DC swallowed his pride to accept that he was fed with wrong information that the process was seamless. It was unfair, illegal and done in a manner that is not in conformity with democracy which hinges on transparency and accountability.
“But we will not relent until justice prevails. We don’t want a mining project that is turning our own locals into landless citizens. We want to set a precedent that locals should not be taken for granted. We don’t want people to become destitute for paving the way for a development project,” he said.
Besides the concerned citizens, the stakeholders interface meeting was also attended by officials from the Ministry of Lands, Malawi Investment Trade Centre (MITC), Portland Cement Malawi Limited and civil society organisations (CSOs). Portland Cement Malawi Limited is the country’s longest cement manufacturing company having started its operations in 1956.
