BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Harry Kuma, Minister for Commerce, Industry, Labour & Immigration said action was taken to deal with foreign illegal miners in the country.
Kuma disclosed this when he responded to the PAC’s recommendation to the Ministry during the Committee of Supply proceeding on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, December 9th, 20205.
According to Kuma, there are two recommendations under the Ministry.
“Recommendation 34, the committee strongly recommend that the Director of Immigration deport the illegal miners or foreigners linked to criminal activities to protect the country’s integrity as an investment destination. We will work closely with the Ministry of Mines and Energy to pinpoint or identify these people, and then we can act on it,” Kuma said.
Kuma highlighted that some of the foreign miners come under a tourist visa.
“That is an important point in terms of workers who are breaching our laws. It is a matter for all enforcement agents, police, immigration, labour and the ministry responsible for mines for us to work together on that and quickly act on it.
“In fact, some of these workers, who come under tourist visas, have already been detected and dealt with, and some actions have been taken,” Kuma said.
In terms of the Commodities Export Market Authority (CEMA) board, Minister Kuma said that they also take note of that recommendation.
“Recommendation 35, the PAC committee recommends that a MAL representative be on the board of CEMA. I think that’s a good idea, and my colleague and I have recently discussed it. We will pursue that,” he said.
Opposition Leader Mathew Wale in the meantime, calls on the Minister and associated ministries to take action as quickly as possible.
“The responses are good, but act on them. We have been attracting some characters that are a little bit shady and slippery in the Mining sector. We need to protect this industry, a little bit firmer, which means coordination between two ministries to make sure that only credible characters are involved in this industry.
“In terms of the CEMA board, there are a lot of good things that the MAL wants to do, but there’s a clear disconnect between what they want to do and what CEMA is thinking of doing, so having a rep from MAL on the Board will cause greater alignment, so we are not duplicating activities and resources,” Wale said.
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