24th December, 2019
The Federal Government on Monday charged investors especially in the mines and steel sector to ensure that they carried along their host communities before commencing operations.
Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, Minister of Mines and Steel Development gave the charge when he visited the Integrated Steel Plant being built by the African Natural Resources and Mines Limited (ANRML) in Jere community, Kaduna State.
Jere is a densely populated community located in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna state.
The minister said carrying host communities along before the commencement of operations was critical to forestall clash between such communities and investors as was being experienced in the Niger Delta region.
“My visit here today, is to encourage investment in mining and steel development and to also urge investors to do this as quickly as possible.
“This government is particularly interested in not making the mistakes we made in the Niger Delta region when the whole investment started.
“One of the most important factors for government in developing the mining and steel sector, is that the communities must be taken along right from the beginning.
“It is of utmost importance that communities must be involved from the beginning, communities in a graduated way, must benefit as the company grows,’’ the minister said.
The minister maintained that as investment grew, host communities should derive graduated benefits in areas of employment, infrastructure, including social infrastructure.
He added that government on its part, would continue to moderate the expectations of host communities.
He advised the ANRML to distribute electricity that would be generated from its excess grid to the community, if not for free, at least at a subsidized rate.
He expressed optimism that because the company had a reputation of doing what was right, it would always do the needful in its operations.
Earlier, Mr Alok Gupta, ANRML Managing Director, said his company was investing 600 million dollars in the project.
He added that the investment would serve as a catalyst for development of the solid minerals sector by attracting other serious investors following its example in downstream processing.