Gold deposits discovered in Kiteto

What you need to know:

  • Sanitation is still a cause for concern as hundreds of miners embark on mining activities in Kiteto District

Kiteto. New gold mines on the border between Kiteto District in Manyara Region and Kilindi District in Tanga Region have been discovered and over 600 people are reported to have seized the opportunity.

Nonetheless, poor sanitation is a cause for concern with some miners asking the government to put in place different infrastructures including sanitary facilities to avoid epidemic outbreaks.

One of the miners, Mr Hassan Abdul, speaking yesterday at Meresa Village in Sunya Ward, said there was an influx of people at Mangwendwa mines, a situation which rises the chances of outbreak of epidemics.

Mr Abdul added that many miners including mineral dealers started flocking to the new mining sites following news that gold was in abundance in the area.

For his part, Kiteto District Commissioner Tumaini Magessa exhorted the miners to build sanitary facilities, a move which would help prevent eruption of epidemics.

Mr Magessa also warned the miners that they should respect laws and regulations governing the mining sector if they want the government to support them.

He said, currently, the government was making a close follow-up on their activities and legal working procedures, reiterating that the government would cooperate with the miners provided that they followed the law.

“After getting information about the gold mining activities on the border between Kiteto and Kilindi districts, I communicated with my Kilindi District counterpart so that we could put things right,” said Mr Magessa.

He explained that his district had repositioned itself to ensure a mineral market was constructed in the area in accordance with President John Magufuli’s directive.

He also called upon entrepreneurs to capitalise on the gold mining activities to provide restaurant and shopping services, to mention but a few.