Ms Nyamutoro
said the government is going to reach all the central places that have a
significant number of artisanal miners so that “this is inclusive enough” to
ensure all their issues are captured. This is in a bid to help them have a
regulation in place that is appreciative of the people.
“In the past, there was little appreciation of the contribution ASM
had to the mining sector and there was a very big misunderstanding of whether
they legally should be recognised as miners, or they were just disruptive to
the mining sector,” she said.
“But overtime,
we got to appreciate that they are Ugandans and are also stakeholders in the
mining sector because the resources belong to the country and it is very
important that even to the smallest level, they should be supported by the
government,” she added.
Some of the
changes, she says, have introduced artisan mining licenses and small scale
mining licenses, whose process of acquiring she described as “seamless”.
“For the
artisanal miners, once they organise themselves in a group, all they have to do
is to apply, pay the required registration fees of Shs1m and are supported by the
ministry,” said Ms Nyamutoro, adding, “So far, we have so many applications
from different groups and I think they are very appreciative of this particular
licence because it has made work very easy for them and they are also formally
recognised in their capacities.”
Ms Irene Bateebe, the permanent secretary in the Energy ministry, said
Uganda’s mining industry is dominated by more than one million Ugandans who
directly or indirectly benefit from ASM operations.
Minerals
She said the
minerals mined by ASMs and widely distributed throughout the country include
gold, tin, wolfram (tungsten), tantalite columbite-tantalite, iron ore,
gemstones, limestone, Marble, Kaolin, diatomite pozzolana, and salt.
According to
her, the ministry has made tremendous progress in improving the existing ASM
management. It has done this by granting mineral licenses to ASMs; processing
more than 100 location licenses—up from five in 2003; and undertaking biometric
registration of ASMs, which has seen 7,455 miners biometrically registered, of
which 2,070 are from the eastern region.
Mr Jonny
Sasirwe, a miner who has reportedly been in the sector for more than 35 years,
said the new regulation isn’t in good faith.
“For instance, the old regulation gave us a location licence of 16
hectares, on which we were to invest Shs10m, but now, the same licence being
given to artisanal miners has a limitation in capacity,” Mr Sasirwe said.
According to Mr
Sasirwe, a person who had a licence of 16 hectares and had a chance to partner
with an investor, is now being given a maximum of 10 square metres and barred
from bringing in a foreign co-investor. Mr Sasirwe, who says he has another
mine in Mubende, added that getting a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) certificate has reportedly taken him over three years and cost him more
than Shs100m.
Mr Charles
Buyinza, another gold miner for the past 15 years and chief executive director
of Kakoba Productions Ltd, said transforming from working without a licence to
working with one may not be easy. He said whereas the ministry is trying to
organise and regulate them, they first want the licenses issued and other
requirements like the EIA to follow later.
“Private
environmental specialists ask for between Shs20m and Shs30m for them to process
or to advise you. Mining is a very expensive venture and has no static budget,
but we lack access to money. You may have Shs100m but use it in a few days or
weeks yet you need equipment,” he said.
The government is working with implementing agencies, including Planet
Gold, whose environment officer, Mr Dean Ocama, said the project is to reduce
mercury usage among ASM.
“Mercury is one
of the toxic chemicals globally recognised by the World Health Organisation,
and in Uganda, they are adopting a four-pillar intervention model in 11 mining
sites across seven districts, including Busia, Namayingo, Moroto, Amudat,
Kasanda, Kisoro and Buhweju,” Mr Ocama said.
Source:
https://www.monitor.co.ug