Africa-Press – Lesotho. THUSO Mosabala, who is a Sustainability Coordinator at Storm Mountain Diamonds (SMD), says they recognise the importance of engaging and working in collaboration with communities in which they operate.
“Therefore, we continue to play a meaningful role in mine community development, guided by the company’s Community Investment Strategy (CIS) Policy,” he said.
Mosabala said they have embarked on extensive initiatives to develop mine communities with the major focus being on education and training, development of sustainable income generating projects, support to local businesses as well as community health.
Mosabala further said they also engage in other projects that benefit local communities. He mentioned Mahakoe a Kao Detergent Project. After their relocation from Tiping to Porinki village in 2020, he said SMD initiated an income generating project to the tune of M813 360 000 that seeks to improve livelihoods for communities affected by mining operations.
Some of the communities had to be relocated to pave way for the mines. Mosabala said this detergents project that operates under the name Mahakoe has employed six people from Kao from a total of 15 relocated families.
’’The salaries of the six are directly paid by the SMD,’’ he said. Mosabala said they also engaged in the construction of Katlehong Health Post.
And as a company, they recognised that many Basotho living in rural areas lack access to affordable, quality and comprehensive health care. Mosabala said the health post was financed by the SMD to the tune of over M308 106 000.
’’In our construction, we employed five people from Kao,’’ he said.
Also, they engaged in the construction of a staffroom, storeroom and began a piggery project for the community. They also built new teachers’ toilets at the school.
The mine also set up the Shishila Primary School Piggery Project that will help create income for the school and will also benefit students by teaching them how to look after pigs.
Mosabala said they have employed 15 people from the Kao area. One of their focuses as informed by their CIS philosophy is to embark on extensive initiatives to develop mine communities with major focus areas such as education and training.
Mosabala said they have constructed Lihloahloeng Pre-school that will enable a wide array of significant benefits to children, families, and society at large. In this project, eight residents of Kao were employed.
Through this initiative, Mosabala said they believe that investments in the education of future workers can improve educational achievement and narrow socio-economic based achievement lacunas, both of which can accelerate economic growth and promote more equal opportunity over time.
He said they spent M700 621 000 to build accommodation facilities for about 40 students from the Kao areas. He said they also built two classrooms, a kitchen, toilets and playground for children at the school.
Mosabala said they have assisted with the registration of the school with the Ministry of Education. He said they pay fees for the two local teachers who work at the school.
“The mine had also ensured that no fees were paid at the school as all the expenses were paid for by the mine,” he said. Mosabala said they have also ensured the construction of a water reticulation project which provided Lihloahloeng villagers with clean water.
He said they realised that the Kao community needs safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities which are crucial to human health and well-being.
“We installed seven water taps and three tanks,” Mosabala said, adding that this project created jobs for seven people.
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