The Mines Monitoring Officer (MMO) Eastern Province Abdul Boi Sandi has revealed that not all miners are abiding by the national mining laws.
He said some miners do not have miners license but they still continue engaging themselves in mining activities without doing the correct thing. Abdul says when such defaulters become unfortunate and are caught by the MMO’s they are often charged to court or fined and their mining tools confisticated.
Abdul made this statement to the press when he was speaking as a guest during an early morning talk show “A.M Live” on Eastern Radio a local radio station in Kenema.
He said though MMOs are sent to mining areas in the region to make sure that miners adhere to the law governing mining activities in the country, much still needs to be done in respect of monitoring.
The mining sector Sandi said is the main revenue gathering arm of the government of the day and as such much attention must be paid to this sector.
He observed that the countries mining activities have slowed down in recent years which he said is due to the flight of some members of the trade to other countries such as the DR Congo and South Africa in search of more diamonds. He encouraged all who are involved in the mining business and those intending to go into the diamond business to make sure that they do the correct thing before taking up the activities. Abdul revealed that any diamond that is obtained in the illegal way is owned by the government of the day.
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