By Thomas Dixon in Freetown
232News
Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources Emmanuel Sandy has asked the Ministry of Finance for NLE 11,701,606 so that the Ministry will complete their activities for 2022 and 2023.
Sandy made this statement last Friday September 23rd 2022 at the Group 2 of the Ministry Of Finance Conference room at George Street in Freetown.
He went to say that their Strategic Plan for 2023 programmes includes legal and regulatory reforms, reviews and harmonization, strengthening institutional capacity; promote local and international investment opportunities in Sierra Leone’s Mineral Sector.
Sandy pointed out that the goal of the ministry is to ensure sustainable extraction and judicious utilization of Sierra Leone‘s mineral wealth to contribute to national economic growth, social development and poverty reduction and the long term mineral contribution to national.
He informed officials of the ministry of Finance, civil society, and the media that the key deliverables for 2022 are to operationalize regulations of Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022, Artisanal Mining Regulations 2022, National Minerals Agency (Amendment Act 2022) and the establishment of a functional Community Affairs and Policy Directorates at Ministry of Mines and Minerals Resources.
According to him, the budget estimate for 2022 was NLE8.3M but that only NLE 2M was approved and the actual disbursement on to date is NLE 457,000(23% of approved budget).
He also highlighted the challenges the ministry faced in 2022 including inadequate trained technical staff, insufficient Vehicles, Motor cycles and other equipment needed for efficient implementation of Ministry’s activities and delay in responding to issues across Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Senior Deputy Financial Secretary Samuel E.B Momoh said they have listened the presentation made by the ministry.
