{"id":8328,"date":"2025-08-19T08:06:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T08:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=8328"},"modified":"2025-08-19T08:06:47","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T08:06:47","slug":"bryden-school-fights-chinese-cement-factory-threatening-pupils-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=8328","title":{"rendered":"Bryden School Fights Chinese Cement Factory Threatening Pupils’ Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Health and Environment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHEGUTU \u2013 Bryden Country School has launched a fierce legal battle against Chinese-owned Shuntai Holdings over the construction of a cement factory just 497 meters from its boundary, igniting fears of catastrophic health and environmental consequences for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Education Minister David Coltart condemned the standoff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is simply outrageous! How can we allow one of our finest schools to be threatened by a company that will rape our resources, shift profits to China, and destroy an educational institution?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timeline of Defiance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. February 2025: Shuntai disclosed factory plans near the school and adjacent Seventh Day Adventist institutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. April 2025: Environmental Management Agency (EMA) approved contested ESIA report despite school objections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. July 25: High Court found Shuntai in contempt after site visit \u2013 yet construction continues.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Bryden\u2019s Board revealed in a parent circular:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “We discovered zero documentation authorizing industrial operations in this education zone. EMA certified a flawed impact assessment ignoring critical health concerns.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Mounting Health Crisis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Parents and students report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u00b7 Choking dust clouds
    \u00b7 Toxic fumes from kilns
    \u00b7 Structural damage from blasting
    \u00b7 Constant machinery noise disrupting classes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “The High Court\u2019s stop order exists only on paper,” a teacher disclosed anonymously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Trucks roll in daily while our children cough through lessons.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Call to Action:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Board urges nationwide support:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Generations of learners face irreversible harm. We need immediate government intervention to halt this thuggery.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Zim GBC News\u00a92025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Health and Environment CHEGUTU \u2013 Bryden Country School has launched a fierce legal battle against Chinese-owned Shuntai Holdings over the construction of a cement factory just 497 meters from its… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,117,118,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court","category-court-and-crime","category-court-and-crime-2","category-crime-and-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8330,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8328\/revisions\/8330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}