MUSANZE, Nov 10 - A multi-stakeholder provincial consultative meeting has been held in Musanze district. It drew together RMB, local leaders, and mining operators across Northern Province to discuss key issues facing the mining sector and share strategies for the development of the sector.

This is one of the avenues for key players and stakeholders in the mining sector in Rwanda to engage in plenary and candid discussions centering on finding viable solutions to pertinent issues such as environmental conservation, switching to green mining, and social welfare for miners and communities surrounding the mines.

Environmental conservation emerges as the most crucial element for modern mining practices in Rwanda. During the consultative meeting, miners were reminded to observe their environmental impact assessments in order to proactively offset the damage to the environment. In this regard, green mining is of paramount importance for the continued growth of the mining sector. This is coupled with speeding up the widespread use of environmentally friendly techniques.

Mining companies were asked to play a leading role in bringing about considerable impacts in alleviating poverty in communities surrounding their mines. This ought to be done in line with their corporate social responsibility services. As a matter of fact, participants in the meeting converged around the fact that districts that are home to mining activities need to make a big difference in transforming the socio-economic conditions of their population. This must be achieved through the sharing of revenues generated from mining activities.

The Deputy CEO of RMB reiterated that RMB, in conjunction with stakeholders’ efforts, remains committed to developing the mining sector through conducting continuous training at the national level to step up capacity building and sharing standard operating procedures (SOPs) with all the concerned organs and institutions that enforce and monitor compliance with mining laws.

(Pictured: The Deputy CEO of Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board)

The representative of the governor of the Northern Province lauded the resolutions adopted from the meeting’s discussions.  Some of these resolutions include beefing up security measures to protect mines from illegal miners; ensuring that all miners are paid through banks and getting all employees in the mining sector to enroll in the Ejo Heza program to ease their access to a long-term save scheme.

The attendees also decided that all mining companies must ensure that all abandoned sites are fully rehabilitated. This is aligned with the existing mining law and eco-friendly mining practices. The discussions also dealt with the issue of illegal mining and consequently deliberated that all illegal mining activities and illegal trading of minerals must be put to a halt without delay since this adversely affects the mining sector’s growth and stains the sector. In this light, mineral tagging needs to be streamlined and well-monitored to leave no stone unturned in the fight against the illegal selling of minerals.

The resolutions of the meeting also include revenue sharing that is to say revenues accrued from the mining industry should constitute a robust development opportunity for low-income households living in areas endowed with natural resources. The other resolution is that all mining license applications must be processed quickly.