Drama as 3,000 stopped from accessing Mererani mines

Mererani. There was drama outside the tanzanite mines at Mererani in Simanjiro district yesterday when over 3,000 small dealers and informal traders were refused entry past the recently erected perimetre wall.

Those who turned up at the main gate were required to register their names before they are allowed in, a process which proved cumbersome.

One of the small scale tanzanite miner who identified himself at Isaya Yohana told The Citizen that the procedure was counter-productive.

He said those behind it did not know how the productive hours were lost at the gates, calling for the deployment of more staff and desk to register those seeking to get inside.

Another mineral dealer Albhai Ramadhani called on the concerned authorities to scrap the system because many licensed dealers and other industry players visiting Mererani mines had IDs.

Reached for comment, the chairperson of Manyara Region Miners' Association (Marema) Sadiki Mneney wondered why the system was introduced.

He said at one time the authorities decided that people with IDs should be allowed into the mines as long as they had National IDs and others issued by their respective companies.

He added that although the measure was intended to control the number of people entering the mines daily, that should not mean the area should be out of bounds for the general public.

Multitudes of people who would normally get inside the area include gemstone diggers working for various mining firms operating there, owners of the mines and their workers, buyers, brokers, food and fruit sellers and boda boda riders.

Mr Mneney said there was a danger some people have misintepreted a directive given by President John Pombe Magufuli  when he ordered the construction of a perimetre wall around the famous  tanzanite mines at Mererani.

Long queues had formed outside the main gate until around noon when the situation eased following the intervention of the Simanjiro District Commissioner Zephania Chaula.

However, the zonal mining officer stationed at the mines Daudi Ntalima said the measure was preferred in order to control smuggling of the gemstones from Mererani.

"This decision was reached during a recent meeting which involved the Simjanjiro DC, the assistant commissioner of mines for the northern zone and security operatives", he said, without giving further details.

The 24 kilometre long wall around the Mererani gemstone mines, constructed at the cost of over Sh. 6 billion, was inaugurated by President Magufuli a few months ago.

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