Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HLCC) workers have claimed that management deliberately failed to repair conveyor belts to transport coal in order to promote private transport operators with whom they have links, a Newsday report claims. Speaking before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines led by Themba Mliswa, Workers’ representative, Deliverance Nyoni said
Hwange Colliery Company is a straight-forward business and we find that the easiest way to transport coal is through conveyor belts, however, they are now obsolete… In 2017, the repairs cost to those conveyor belts were said to be around $85 000, which is cheaper than the costs of hiring trucks to transport the coal. However, management was not keen on repairing the coke oven battery, yet they pour money into open cast mine which is surprising us as workers.
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