Govt to establish mining authority this year

The government is this financial year expected to establish a mining authority to bring sanity in the mining industry.

Speaking during an awareness meeting with members of Mangochi District Council and Mangochi Municipal Council on Wednesday, minister of mining Monica Chang’anamuno lamented that illegal mining activities are increasing.

According to Chang’anamuno, some foreigners are operating small-scale mining in the country without authorisation.

She expressed concern that illegal mining benefits foreigners at the expense of local people who by virtue of being Malawians, were supposed to be benefitting from the mining industry.

“We have established that there has been a tendency of people coming from outside the country to do mining and some of them come here without licenses. This is resulting in a large section of foreigners doing small-scale mining by extracting minerals in hotspot districts. This is illegal because it is only local people who are supposed to do small-scale mining,” she said.

Chang’anamuno has since challenged district councils to play a role in combating illegal mining in the country.

“We would want district councils to be vigilant in making sure that they are following up on the issues that are happening in the hotspot areas. As a ministry, we cannot do this work on our own and we would want every sector at district council level to take their role,” she added.

Chang’anamuno added that while government is in the process of devolving Ministry of Mining to local councils to take a leading role in preventing illegal mining and mineral trade.

In his remarks, District Commissioner for Mangochi, Smart Gwedemula, commended the minister for the awareness meeting, saying it was timely.

“Indeed, mining activities must be owned by everybody, including those in rural areas, in order for us to benefit from these natural resources,” said Gwedemula.