Call for government to invest, ease illegal mining

PORGERA Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Nickson Pakea has called on the Government and Barrick to invest in smart business grants to help locals and to discourage illegal mining.
Pakea told The National that with the recent illegal mining incidents, the Government and the developer should start investing in business grants to help locals set up small businesses to help them become economically independent.
He also called on the Government and the developer to fast-track the resettlement programme for locals living near the mine.
“As long as people are allowed to continue living near the mining area, illegal mining will continue,” Pakea said.
“Recently, the number of the illegal miners have increased dramatically, there are thousands of them.
“And they are causing an inconvenience to the community.”
Pakea said that from the perspective of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, people should be encouraged into starting small businesses to sustain themselves.
“Pogera is a long way from an urban town and does not receive many government services.
“Locals depend on the mine and if these illegal mining continues to cause problems, the people are the ones who will suffer.
“So locals living near the mine should be resettled outside the mine’s premises and investments must be made in smart business grants to help them start up SMEs (small to medium enterprises) to support themselves.”