On Friday 4 May 2018, Sierra Rutile Limited (SRL) engaged stake holders at the British Council Auditorium in Freetown on the Non Technical Summary of the draft of the Environmental Social and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) and Environment, Social and Health Management Plan (ESHMP) report.
The disclosure attracted stakeholders from the Environmental Protection Agency, National Mineral Agency, Ministry of Labor Civil Society Organization, students from Fourah Bay College and many others.
Sierra Rutile hired SPK Consulting, an international consulting firm based in South Africa.
In her statement, the Chair, Ranitta Koroma, said that public disclosure is very important in Africa particularly in Sierra Leone. “I want you to ask questions and make suggestions. Whatever thing you suggest or ask will be included into the final document that will be submitted to EPA.”
The Company Representative, Ansu Jabati, maintained that their operation has an existing environmental license and has undertaken two previous environmental and social impact assessment studies in 2001 and upgraded it in 2012. He said the primary process was dredge (wet) mining, adding that they had commenced an open cast (dry) mining operation as the second one was commissioned in 2016.
It is expected that over time dredge mining will cease and dry mining would be the primary mining method employed. He pointed out that ESHIA is undertaken to meets the requirements of the laws of Sierra Leone and aligned with international best practices. He mentioned that they will ensure that the environmental and social impact of the project are fully understood and that plans are put in place for the company to adequate manage the impact and optimize benefits where possible.
The Large Scale Mining and Compliance Manager of National Mineral Agency, Yusuf Dauda Suma, said, environmental, social and health impact assessment is a clause in the NMA Act which made it clear for any company that is seeking for license to undertake environmental impact studies.
He furthered that Sierra Rutile contracted an independent international consultancy, SRK consulting firm to do the environmental impact studies and SRK consulting also consulted a local company called CEMMAT, which he said are good combination.
MJB/5/5/18
By Mohamed J Bah
Monday May 7, 2018.
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