By Sulaiman Jalloh
Hon. Emmerson Lamina
Hon. Emmerson Lamina representing the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) has, during the recent 53rd sitting of the Sixth Parliament of the second Republic at the Parliament Building on Tower Hill in Freetown, presented the first report of the Mines and Minerals Committee.
According to Hon. Emmerson Lamina, who serves as Chairman of the Mines and Minerals Committee, twenty-four percent (24%) of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the mining sector, adding that eighty percent (80%) of the country’s exports are derived from mining products. The mining sector, he went on, has the potential to employ about three hundred thousand (300, 000) people in the country.
According to Hon. Lamina, his committee conducted its oversight engagement between the 24-25 March, 2024 in Port Loko and Kono Districts. He said Sierra Leone has a potential of rich extractive minerals, making the mineral sector very important to the World and to the country. He further disclosed that the country has made significant strides to improve the mining industry, citing the change of the Act to Mines and Minerals Development Act. “If you go to Tonkolili, Port Loko and Kono Districts, you will see tangible proofs of the Community Development Agreements (CDA) funds,” the lawmaker asserted.
Hon. Emmerson Lamina further disclosed that his oversight engagement as a committee they observed that the Marampa Mining is micromanaging their resources especially their ten percent (10%). He stated that in Kono, most mining companies do not have Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and are not adhering to the one percent (1%) pointing Section (43)(4) of the Mines and Minerals Development Act which stipulates one percent of the mining should be gross profited to the mining communities.
Therefore, Hon. Lamina, on behalf of his committee, recommends that the Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources and supervisory agency be summoned by Parliament for more explanations.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Monday, June 10th , 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)