By Mohamed Sheriff Information Officer, MMMR
Thursday 17 September 2020- Members of the Diamond and Gold Exporters in Sierra Leone, responded to an engagement invitation extended by the Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources at a ceremony in the Ministry’s Conference room, 5th Floor Youyi Building, Freetown.
The purpose of the meeting was to engage the exporters on the challenges and opportunities of the downstream subsector, in a bid to transform the mining sector for the benefit of the people.
In his brief statement on what they are doing , the Director of Precious Minerals, National Mineral Agency, Samuel Koroma said their mandate is to oversee the trade of gold and diamond to ensure the kimberley certification process is satisfied.
The process, he said involves the levying of duties and royalties to generate revenue for the government.
Mr Koroma added that the PMT has been working with the relevant authorities in the sector to generate the needed revenue to boast the country’s economy.
On behalf of the Diamond and Gold Exporters, Fassally Tarawally and Hisham Mackie highlighted some of the challenges they face. They expressed serious concerns in the areas of access to foreign currencies, payment of taxes, transportation from the Precious Minerals Trading (PMT) to the flight and coordination and collaboration with MDAs in the sector – but believe that with the leadership of the Minister and his dynamic team, they see things changing positively.
The representatives assured the Minister that the association is ready to work with the Ministry to improve on the management of the country’s mineral resources.
He commended the government under the dynamic leadership of President Bio for his commitment to rebranding the mining sector of Sierra Leone.
On his part, the Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Hon. Timothy Kabba said it is not a secret that Sierra Leone has suffered immensely due to bad governance of the Minerals sector, which has left the country wallowing in seeing perpetual poverty.
He said smuggling will not be tolerated by government and that the Ministry and NMA will heighten vigilance to remedy the situation.
The Minister further encouraged foreign investors to respect the laws of Sierra Leone as it is also incumbent on government to protect and promote their investment in Sierra Leone.
“You should not see smuggling as an alternative means of tax evasion. We will not! We will go after you and bring you to book. The people of this country deserve their dues from the God heaven resources of the country.
“We will not be able to eradicate smuggling 100% – but if you follow the right processes and advocate with government to understand your problems, then government will in turn engage to find solutions that will make the market more viable”, he said.
The Minister told the exporters that the Ministry is committed to providing the right governance and guidance for the sector and as such will not tolerate the exploitation of investors by any of its members.
He also called on the exporters to report anyone who requests payment for any deserving rights throughout the certification process to the authorities of the Ministry.
“In as much as we have the responsibility to protect your investment, we are to make sure you maximize profits but as the same time will not tolerate to ripe this country any more, you also have the responsibility to protect the interest of the people of this country,” he stressed.
The Mines Minister said he will further engage with the National Minerals Agency to strengthen the regulatory capacity to address illicit mining in the country. He added that the Mines and Minerals Act will come out very soon to guarantee the investors’ confidence and the people of Sierra Leone.
He said that his leadership will enhance effective and efficient management of the natural resources for the benefits of the people and the country, pointing out that it is imperative on them to provide responsible leadership for the sector.
He assured members of the diamond and gold exporters that under his leadership and that of His Excellency the President, they will strengthen their partnership. He encouraged the Ministry, NMA and the Exporters to have a working group that will further look into their concerns for effective and efficient service delivery in the sector.
