AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government is determined to set a legacy on the mineral sector by ensuring the country and players of the industry are benefiting from the available natural wealth.
In a bid to meet the targets, the Ministry of Minerals has taken a number of initiatives to end bureaucracy and corruption in the delivery of its services.
The Minister for Minerals, Mr Dotto Biteko made the remarks on Tuesday as he was winding up the International Mineral and Mining Investment Conference 2021 held at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) in Dar es Salaam.
“We are committed to run the ministry in an open and transparent manner; we shall do whatever is in our capacity to ensure the sector moves forward for the greater interest of the country and players in the industry,” he said.
He was of the view that the available minerals must be utilised in a way that will make the coming generation appreciate the work that has been done by the government.
The minister said the government has done a lot in minimising challenges in the industry and that it would continue with the efforts for the better prosperity of the mineral sector, by also considering the welfare of small scale miners.
Other efforts include fighting bureaucracy and corruption especially in the issuing of mining licences, as the process is done transparently.
“In the past it was difficult for the small scale miners to secure loans from financial institutions, but now, a number of banks like NMB, CRDB, NBC and Azania Bank are leasing the money for the said group,” he said.
Responding to the query on the number of taxes that have been posed to small scale miners, the minister said plans are underway to harmonize the collection methodology.
“The Minister of State President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government Selemani Jafo and I would convene a joint meeting with all District Executive Directors in the country to harmonise ways of collecting revenue,” he said.
Adding; “It isn’t wealthy to keep discussing challenges in the sector, all these will become history in the near future, and going forward, we will be discussing opportunities from the industry”.
Earlier, the Mara Regional Commissioner (RC) Adam Malima, suggested the necessity of the Ministry to consider giving up priority to small-scale artisanal since they have a lot of challenges for the government to work on.
He lauded transformation that has been recorded so far in the mineral sector, as tangible results are now seen from the sector.
Going forward, he asked the small scale artisanal to make better use of the regional and local government officials in their respective areas in addressing challenges that they are facing.
“Instead of waiting for the annual forum like this one, they have to utilise our presence there for their challenges to be addressed, and for those that would be beyond our reach, we can facilitate to the upper level for proper intervention,” said Mr Malima acknowledging transformation that have been made in the mineral sector.
For his part, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Minerals Mr Dunstan Kitandula spoke on the financial constraints for small scale miners and that the government can arrange a platform for the challenge to be addressed.
A total of nine topics were presented and 17 resolutions were adopted during the conference.
Meanwhile, the Geita Gold Mine (GGM), Williamsons Diamond and Buzwagi Gold Mine shone in the Madini night after scooping a number of awards based on their contributions to the government’s revenue and national development for the year 2019/2020.
While GGM emerged the overall best performer after scooping awards in four categories, including the compliance to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental management Plan and the large scale miner best contributor of government revenue.
In the awards that were organised by the Ministry of Energy and held by JNICC, GGM also emerged the first runner up in the category of involvement in local content.
For its part, Williamson Diamond scooped the second position in the category of the best dividend provider, third position in the environmental management plan, and the second runner best partner company.
The Barrick Gold Corporation scooped awards on the best partner company and the best dividend provider as Shanta Mining Limited bagged the prize on local content and scooped the second position in the Environmental Management Plan.
The North Mara Gold Mine scooped the second position in the categories of compliance to CSR and the large scale miner best contributor of government revenue.
The Buzwagi Gold Mine for its part became the second runner in the categories of compliance to CSR and the large scale miner best contributor of government revenue.
