‘Arson’ attack heightens tensions at Chisumbanje
By Alex Bell
SW Radio Africa
29 May 2013
A fire that destroyed over 500 hectares of sugar cane owned by the
Chisumbanje ethanol project has heightened tensions there, where relations
between the company running the project and locals are already seriously
strained.
10 people have been arrested for suspected arson after the fire on Tuesday,
which destroyed sugar cane worth about US$5 million. There has been no
official confirmation from the police if formal charges have been brought
against the arrested group.
The ZANU PF mouthpiece Herald newspaper quoted sources who described the
fire as an “act of sabotage” to stop operations at the controversial plant,
allegedly because success there would “raise the ZANU PF trajectory in
Manicaland.”
MP Meke Makuyana, the MDC-T representative for Chipinge South, spoke to
affected villagers and they denied any involvement in the fire. He told SW
Radio Africa that it is widely thought that employees at the ethanol plant
were responsible for starting a fire that “went out of control.”
“The problem is there is still bad blood between the company and the
community. The most recent problem has been with the community trying to get
a shortcut (through Green Fuel property) to their crops, which the company
has been resisting,” Makuyana said.
The ethanol project, run by the Billy Rautenbach backed Green Fuel group,
remains a source of confusion and anger, especially for locals who have been
directly affect by the development of the plant. For over 15 months, the
project has sat idle amid worsening tensions between the community and the
plant’s investors. The community has lost land, livestock and income as a
result of the plant, while some people have faced violence and intimidation.
The MDC-T has said that about 187 families have relocated to Mozambique
after the company took over communal plots of land and damaged their crops.
Green Fuel has denied this is the case.
The project has also been the source of much politicking, with all sides in
government blaming each other for the failure of the plant to become fully
operational. Most recently Vice President Joice Mujuru said in March that
the plant was ready to be reopened, in a move that saw her being criticised
for currying favour ahead of elections. That directive has still not been
followed up with action.