The Nasarawa State Government has urged solid mineral miners in the area to make available to the government their reclamation plans and adhere to corporate social responsibility.
The state’s Commissioner of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Yakubu Kwanta made the call in an interview in Lafia.
“We intend to inform various communities to avail us with the reclamation plan of the mining activity that is going on there.
“It is within our mandate to ensure that the mining companies comply with the plan.
“Let me use this opportunity to call on all of the mining companies to adhere to their corporate social responsibility of reclaiming the sites,’’ he said.
A reclamation plan is a blueprint describing the steps that are necessary to reclaim the site to achieve post-mining land use. It is also a is the basis for granting a reclamation permit.
Reclamation is the combined process by which adverse environmental effects of surface mining are minimized and mined lands are returned to beneficial end use.
End uses may be open space, wildlife habitat, agriculture, or residential and commercial development.
Kwanta said that making the reclamation plans available to the government would enable the state to be in the proper position to improve its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“I have been to all our mining sites and some of the potential sites that can attract investors all over the state.
“I have also had engagements with the miners.
“We held a meeting with the revenue mobilization and fiscal commission with a view to seeing how we can improve our IGR.
“After the meeting, I wrote a memo to the governor for consideration to invite all of the miners and make them see the need to pay a royalty to the state and also have them pay a royalty to the federal government.
“That is what we are doing at the moment. We’re putting officers in various places at the mining sites so that before any product leaves the site, our desk officer would have to certify it and we receive payment for royalty in line with the existing law.
“We also intend to check the artisanal miners’ activities by profiling all of them so that we can get the actual number of people operating on site,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that keeping a record of miners’ reclamation plans would go a long way towards tackling insecurity in communities and the state in general.
According to him, the state government plans to harmonize conditions under which miners will be given the approval to erect structures necessary to carrying out their activities.
“We have directed that all the environmental impact assessments that have been done should be submitted to the government.
“The government and the communities are not even aware of some of these assessments done.
“We intend to reveal it and ensure strict compliance with the content of the environmental impact assessment.
“This is what we’re doing and we will continue to do it because it’s part of the mandate of the ministry and my mandate as the commissioner,’’ he said.
