HON. MAPIKI: The policy I am referring to is when they manage to...

HON. MAPIKI: The policy I am referring to is when they manage to find the gas, do we have any law which talks about the distribution or selling in and outside the country like what other countries are doing? Thank you.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT RESPONSIBLE FOR OIL AND GAS RESEARCH AND OTHER STRATEGIC MINERALS EXPLORATION (HON. DR. MAKWIRANZOU): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Member for asking that question. At the moment, we are actually working on the oil and gas policy as he has described it but we are guided by the Mines and Minerals (Chapter 21.3). So, we are working on the policy and we will be giving it out very soon.

The one which is most leading is Invictus because they have made a lot of progress. However, also let me just mention in passing, Hon. Speaker Sir, that we actually have eight companies that are interested in extracting gas, mostly in Matabeleland North. We are getting these to also follow certain guidelines that we have, the general guidelines which include environmental impact assessment and the normal licencing under Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. I thank you.