In promoting inter-ministerial coordination in government, the leadership of Rivergee County has provided a plot of land to the Ministry of Mines and Energy for the construction of a regional office.
The intent and purpose of the building project, according to acting Superintendent, Paul Brooks, who is the County Inspector of Rivergee, is to ensure that both Inspectorate Division and Bureau of Mines have office spaces to administer the affairs of the Mines and Energy Ministry more effectively with efficiency.
Inspector Brooks was speaking on behalf of Rivergee County Superintendent, Philip Nyenoh, who was out on government function. His [Brooks] assertions were made on Friday, 25 November, 2022, when he received in audience, the Inspector-General of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Joshua Obediah Arku in the county’s capital, Fish Town.
Mines and Energy Inspector-General Arku and delegation comprising mineral inspectors had gone to pay a courtesy call on Rivergee County’s authorities to abreast them of the nationwide inspection tour the Ministry (Mines and Energy) has embarked on in an effort to clamp down on illicit and illegal mining, mainly in the Class ‘C’ or artisanal small scale (ASM) sub-sector.
Inspector-General Arku informed the the Rivergee County local government authorities that he and team were in the county to carry out a vigorous exercise of ensuring that miners are in compliance with the and mining laws of Liberia.
According to the law, Class ‘C’ license is set aside only for Liberians, to promote entrepreneurship in that sub-sector, but the Ministry of Mines and Energy IG lamented to Rivergee’s acting Superintendent, Paul Brooks, that in executing his Inspectorate function, he and his team have discovered that Liberians are defrauding their own country by acquiring the Class ‘C’ license, and then later sell it to foreign nationals who don’t fall in such category of mining.
This, IG Arku averred, is being done by miners in almost all of the southeastern counties where the current leg of his nationwide inspection tour is taking place. The transfer or trading of small scale mining licenses by Liberians, IG Arku assured, will be properly investigated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, backed by his field report.
Mr. Arku, on behalf of Mines and Energy Minister, Gesler E. Murray, thanked Rivergee County for the offer of a plot of land on which the Ministry’s regional office will be constructed to serve Rivergee, Maryland and Grand Kru counties in mining region ‘C’. Such efforts, the Inspector-General said, are also being made with county authorities in the remaining 5 mining regions in order to synchronize the work of the Inspectorate Division and the Bureau of Mines.
The Mines and Energy Inspector-General and delegation have crossed over to Maryland County where they are continuing to Inspect all mining sites for compliance with the law. In the Class ‘C’ category of mining, as provided for in Chapter 6, Section 6.3f, Class ‘C’ miners are not allowed to use heavy earth moving equipment, except by permit from the Ministry (MME).
In this regard, the use of dredges and mercury are banned, but violations in this regard is one of the daunting challenges the country is facing. According to IG Arku, his Inspectorate division will remain robust in fulfilling government’s quest to weed out unscrupulous individuals from the small-scale mining sub-sector. A press release from the Ministry said.
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