Namah wants laws on mining reviewed

THE Mining Act will be reviewed to increase landowner participation in mining projects, Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah said.
He was speaking at a meeting in parliament on Wednesday where Mining Department officials highlighted impediments the industry would face if the Boka Kondra Bill became law.
Namah and MPs called for increased landowner participation.
He said he would support the bill and called on proponents and cri­tics of the bill to work together so that the final form was acceptable to all.
“A review of the Mining Act is long
overdue. Landowners should not be mere rent and royalty takers.
“They should be a major partner in the extraction of resources from their land.
“This can be achieved through the production sharing arrangement that is working well in many countries.”
Namah urged Kondra to look at a 49/51 production sharing arrangement, with landowners taking up 49% with the support of the government.
He said the issue of exploration and sunk costs should not be considered impediments, as that would be shared by all partners.
Namah, who is minister for forest and climate change, said similar change to increase landowner participation would be brought to the forest industry.