We need proper due diligence otherwise we will sell our natural resources for a song- MP warns

There are a number of investors who are keen to invest in the Lupane methane gas project such as Toma Gold Consortium, Gazzprom, Zambezi Gas and Sakunda, but the government must carry out proper due diligence first so that it does not sell the country’s natural resource for a song.

This was said by Gutu South legislator Pupurai Togarepi who is also the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front chief whip in his contribution to the motion on domestic resource mobilisation for the country’s development.

Togarepi said the country must also be on the lookout for investors who might just want to hold on to the resources without exploiting them for their own gain.

“After observing all this, one must also be cognizant of the fact that where there is gas or potential of these resources, there is also a lot of interest and interference from those who have already enjoyed monopolies on these minerals. They would find ways of throwing spanners in the whole works in order to delay exploitation of these resources,” he said.

“We also need as a country to be very careful as we deal with these resources and any other resource that we have – gold, diamond, platinum, et cetera, that we do not sell the future of our people for a song because most of these people would want to come.

“My other Hon. Member said $15 million could be a lot of money but if you look at the potential these people would get out of exploiting these, we are talking of trillions and billions of dollars.  $15 million may not be a lot of money because anyone who comes to deal with this type of resource knows very well what he will get from it and as people of Zimbabwe, before we do anything we should ask ourselves what we are going to get as a people.

“Many of them have come to Zimbabwe and some were mining diamond in Chiadzwa, claiming that it was all exploration but they were shipping diamond out of the country.

“We can still have the same people coming to us. The list I have given you, these people have interest to exploit these resources but they may take advantage of our interest in them exploiting these resources and exploit to the disadvantage of our people. My view would be for us to allow Government to do due diligence to ensure that whatever relationships that we are going to have with any company from wherever it comes from, whether is it a local company – it comes from the East or from the West and they want to exploit our resources, they must give us value. We need value for whatever we have….

“It is better to keep our natural gas than to give it away for a song,” he said.

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