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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ZIMBABWE-DIAMOND-ECONOMY TVR
HEADLINE: Zimbabweans Hope to Benefit from Country's Diamond Industry
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 10/23/2023 at 8:30am
BYLINE: Columbus Mavhunga
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Purnell Murdock
VIDEOGRAPHER: Blessing Chigwenhembe
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
DATELINE: Marange, Zimbabwe
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA, WhatsApp
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 3:10
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) Zimbabwe has natural resources that include nearly 40 different minerals and one of the world's largest deposits of diamonds. Yet, the vast majority of Zimbabweans continue to live in poverty. Columbus Mavhunga visits the country's famous Marange diamond fields and talks with residents who want average people to benefit more from the country’s mineral wealth.
((NARRATOR))
The Marange fields of Zimbabwe, home to one of the world's largest diamond deposits. The precious gems were first mined here in 2006.
The government-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company says it is working to increase production so that all citizens can reap the benefits of mining the gems, according to spokesman Sugar Chagonda.
((Sugar Chagonda, Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (male, English))) ((26 sec))
“And I am sure we are doing this by making sure that we build the community development, employing locals, infrastructure development, sports and recreation, as well as the general amenities, which is quite good. And we are also extending to the province.
((NARRATOR))
But the benefits have yet to reach people living nearby, says resident Artwell Mushangwidza, who has lived near the Marange fields his whole life.
[[For radio: In this diamond mining area, there is a problem, Mushangwidza says. Children are missing school because their parents are failing to pay fees. He says, we hope that the diamonds can benefit the local children more through schools in the diamond mining area by reducing fees or paying their fees. That's our major concern — so that children have a great future."]]
((Artwell Mushangwidza, Lives Near Marange Fields (Shona 15 seconds)))
"In this diamond mining area, there is a problem. Children are missing school because their parents are failing to pay fees. We hope that the diamonds can benefit the local children more through schools in the diamond mining area by reducing fees or paying their fees. That's our major concern — so that children have a great future."
((NARRATOR))
Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company says that it has started building schools with science labs to improve local children’s education.
But schooling isn't the only problem that Zimbabweans want diamonds to solve. They say the industry should help the economy more.
The problem is that the sector lacks transparency, says Center for Natural Resource Governance Director Farai Maguwu.
((Farai Maguwu, Center for Natural Resource Governance (male English))) ((28 secs))
((Mandatory Courtesy: WhatsApp))
“The diamond sector is now subject to extreme and organized crime. The leaders are the only ones knowing where the diamonds are going, how the diamonds are leaving the country, where the revenues are going. But as citizenry, we have been completely disconnected and cut out regarding from any information about the diamond industry.”
((NARRATOR))
Getting that information would be one way to help Zimbabwe follow the example of Botswana, whose booming economy is built largely on diamonds, according to economist Prosper Chitambara with the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe.
((Prosper Chitambara, Economist (male, English)))
((Mandatory courtesy: WhatsApp))
“The second one being beneficiation of those minerals, in other words, value chain through an industrialization through the next process. Those are important to ensure that the ordinary citizen gets to benefit from those resources.”
((NARRATOR))
Currently, Zimbabwe ranks a distant seventh in worldwide diamond production, despite having diamond fields roughly the size of Luxembourg.
((Columbus Mavhunga, VOA News, Marange, Zimbabwe))
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Marange, Zimbabwe
Embargo DateOctober 23, 2023 09:00 EDT
BylineColumbus Mavhunga
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
