Vale, Rio Tinto slammed over Mozambique resettlements

MAPUTO (AFP) - Global mining giants Vale and Rio Tinto have neglected thousands of Mozambicans who have been moved from mining areas and resettled without proper homes or income, Human Rights Watch alleged on Thursday.

"Many of the 1,429 households resettled to make way for Vale and Rio Tinto's international coal mining operations ... have faced serious disruptions in their access to food, water, and work," the rights group said.

More than half the booming northern Tete province has been zoned for mining, limiting the amount of good farming land available for resettlement.

Mozambique is believed to have the largest untapped coal reserves in the world and exports could reach 100 million tonnes over the next decade, fuelling industrial development in India and China.

But many farming families in the country's booming north had gone from self-sufficiency to reliance on food distribution since 2009, when Brazil's Vale started resettlements, according to Human Rights Watch.

Residents of the Cateme resettled community periodically block roads -- most recently in April -- to protest against crumbling houses and lost livelihoods.

Vale hit back against Human Rights Watch's allegations, insisting it had managed resettlements "based on respect for human rights and aligned with international standards."

In a statement, the firm said it had fixed water pumps and irrigation systems and had repaired houses in resettlement areas.

It also promised compensation to 83 families who still have not received all the farmland they had been promised.

Human Rights Watch said tensions between mining firms and locals highlighted "how quickly the government has been handing out licences, limiting the availability of land."

The group called on authorities to update current resettlement laws to bring them up to international standards.

The report came as the impoverished southern-African nation prepares for major gas exploration off its northeastern coast in Cabo Delgado province.

Over 100 trillion cubic feet have been discovered here so far -- almost double Libya's proven reserves.