Sabi Star Mine which is in lithium mining has in few recent years facilitated the relocation of 40 families from Tagarira and Mkwasi Villages to pave way for lithium extraction.
The company which was commissioned last year is reported to have relocated 40 families in Buhera North to two locations which were aveiled.
22 families opted to relocate to Murambinda Growthpoint.
It is alleged the mine purchased 22 x 450 square metre stands for those relocated to the growthpoint
Of the 40 families, 17 of them opted to be relocated locally.
One of the family decide to go back to their ancestral land in Mberengwa.
It is against the backdrop of the 22 who allegedly opted to be relocated to Murambinda Growthpoint that led to this massive piece.
For starters, Murambinda Growthpoint is locted in Buhera District, Manicaland Province.
The economy of the growthpoint is based on buying and selling and a little agriculture done at Murambinda B irrigation scheme were around 40 people are beneficiaries.
There is nearly defunct Dorowa mine and Dinidza mine about 30 kilometres from Murambinda.
The money from the mines rarely circulate in the growthpoint as there is Gaza township which is nearly outgrowing Murambinda.
Some mine workers do their business in Harare and Mutare, the provincial town.
Murambinda then becomes a dormitory place for people who seeks peri-urban lifestyle normally in the make of retired and working government officials as well as those in diaspora.
To shorten the story, there is no meaningful business in Murambinda besides wholesale and retail of which it can not employ the bulky of the population.
The population in Murambinda is made up of consumers of finished products dwelling on expensive pieces of land caused by lack of development in underlying areas.
Growthpoints are an aftermath of the growth pole theory.
The Westerncentric theory is development driven, the proponent of the growth pole theory envisioned development based on decentralisation of services and resultantly those service centres become point of growth.
The growth pole theory was postulated by Francois Perroux in 1955.
He considered growth pole as key driver of economic activities and development in a region.
The growth starts in one center and then trickles down to periphery of the growth center through forward and backward linkages.
This is not the case of Murambinda, instead of leading tripple down effect led growth, the council is relocating people from low lying areas into the urban centre.
The relocated families are reported to have received monetary compensation of US $1 900 upon taking occupation of their new houses.
They also received US $150 upto six months.
Sabi Star Mine resources estimates give a life span of the mine to six years but the company plans to expand this through further exploration.
Sabi Star mine envisages to expand the life span to more than 20 years.
The mine has 55 mining claims astride 3 800 hectares of land.
The 22 were removed from their ancestral land where they ecked a living through gardening, farming and other menial jobs.
The growthpoint life is expensive and the relocated 22 have no source of livelihood to sustain their lives when they exhaust the little they were offered.
Their children are walking more than 5 kilometres to attend school since the primary and only school built nearby their residence is not yet functioning.
The relocated 22 will have to buy every little thing like vegetables which they used to freely grow.
They were removed from their sources of livelihood and they have to adjust to urban life characterised by competition for the few available jobs and resources.
The government of Zimbabwe should desist from relocating citizens from rural areas to urban centres.
The people will compete for scarce resources available in urban areas.
The newly relocated will not survival the competition with those already established in such areas.
Those relocated should be guranteed employement by the parent company.
Besides employment, the government should make it a policy that those relocated become share holders of the mining activity such as this one.
Sabi Star Mine will be mining lithium for 20 years or more whereas the relocated will have a six month compensation which is hardly enough for that period.
