This post is part of the report back for Techzim’s tour to Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi, where Green Fuel is setting up a large scale Ethanol production plant. We managed to sit down for an interview (over lunch) with Graeme Smith who is the company’s GM. Finding another time would have been disastrous due to his busy schedule and the needle eye timeframe of our tour.
The audio clip is below. You can either play it directly below or download it. If you have a slow connection, please have a little patience while it loads…
Limbikani and l represented Techzim while Graeme Smith and Lilian Muungani (the Green Fuel communications manager) spoke on behalf of Green Fuel.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/18420262″]
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5 comments
These guys are socially not responsable, digging up villagers graveyards … thats unacceptable! They say they have created jobs, how much are they paying those people? peanuts? Lets have the facts!
I’m worried about the projects which are not
sensitive to communities. Mr Smith has tried to leave out politics, but
the headman is talking about graves and ancestral lands. The council
which was mandated by the people to look after community resources
cannot make decisions on behalf of the people without consultation. Here
is my advice Mr. Smith, if you want this project to be smooth sailing
then listen very attentively to what grassroots people say: the headmen,
the villagers. Don’t listen too much to office bearers because many a
time they edit information. Seek consensus with the community, offer
adequate compensation for land by even offering equity in the project,
assist in reburial, build 2 schools for 1 destroyed and build a hospital
on top of rebuilding all clinics destroyed. How do you fund that?
That’s what your ought to talk NOT with council but with villagers!
These guys are NOT green @all, they raised the ire of villagers by
digging up graves to make way for their expansion, is that social or
corporate responsibility? They talk of giving jobs to the community, but
exactly how many jobs and how much is each member of the community
earning? we need these facts so we can see the real value they are
ploughing back into the community else its just stats that are empty. Mr
editor, we need fair coverage of issues. Do not be used by Green fuel
for their publicity. They take you to hotels @ the expense of villagers
who are supposed to be long term beneficiaries. Lets have responsible
journalism.
Hie Muzukuru, we once again appreciate the fact that you have aired out your opinion. Our experience was exactly as we put it. If you have any concerns l suggest getting in touch with the company’s Harare office or the Agricultural Rural Development Authority of Zimbabwe (ARDA) . You can possibly tour the place.
Clinton, please dont pull a fast one, ARDA did not write this article, all i am saying, since you wrote this article and did these interviews, you should have done an article that is balanced, reflective of the goings on on the ground. Its called responsable journalism. All we just want as your readers is to know you are not being used as a front for publicity by these companies at our expense. We need well researched and balanced articles, that is the reason we come to this site, else we would just go to Green fuels website and be bombarded by their marketing department. You have a job to give us all the good and the bad when you write an article and we as your readers benefit the most which is suppose to be the case.