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Bianca Mlilo, Business Reporter
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy has recommended the setting up of a board by Government to oversee the process of scouting for investors to resuscitate the defunct Shabani-Mashava Mines.

The Portfolio Committee revealed this in Parliament on Wednesday after it noted that the company, which was once one of the biggest contributors to economic development, was deteriorating.

Shabani-Mashava Mines were put under judicial management in 2004 after encountering viability challenges, which saw about 75 percent of the employees being retrenched.

At their peak, the asbestos mining concerns used to employ about 3 000 workers.

“We recommend that through the Government, a board be set to run the affairs of the mines through a properly structured administration, and that the board secures a new investor to resuscitate the mines which will be brought into the fray in line with dictates of Zim-Asset,” said legislators John Holder and Ezira Ruvai.

The Portfolio Committee added that the closure of Shabani-Mashava Mines prejudiced over 2 000 employees due to non-payment of salaries and wages and poor service delivery.

The legislators said the committee had noted that the credit status of the  asbestos mines were getting worse since their closure.

“We’re worried that the workers may never get what is due to them and also that the prospects of the re– opening the mines may never dawn.”

Through the Shabani-Mashava Mines, Zimbabwe was the fifth best producer of asbestos in the world contributing 150 000 tonnes of the mineral to the world market per year and second best exporter after Russia.

— @BiancaMlilo