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By Wevole Ezin
A non-governmental organization, Peace Point Development Foundation (PPDF), has frowned at the increasing levels of illegal mining taking place in Cross River State, expressing fears that if not checked it may lead to landslide disaster.
The State PPDF Coordinator , Mr. Umo Isua-Ikoh, disclosed this at a one-day town hall meeting in Calabar with the theme; the Cost of Corruption in the Extractive Industries.
The event which was jointly organized by PPDF and it’s partner; BudgIT, attracted participants from communities hosting extractive industries, civil society organizations, traditional institutions, youth bodies and the media.
According to him, “If you go to Biase, there’s illegal mining going on there. There are also other places across the state which we know. Go to Mfamosing, illegal mining is going on, and there are environmental implications for this. So we call these communities let’s come together and dialogue to see how we can hold some of these companies to account for what they’ve done.
“Some of the mining companies have discovered a lot of resources in our communities. They fail to make it known to us because they are making interest from it, and they also don’t know how to extract it. All they need is the financial benefits at the detriments of the communities.
“In terms of environmental issues, most of the extractive sites will be left open. Sooner or later we will have a lot of landslides across the state base on this. So we need to start agitating for the communities to know what the companies are doing and also hold the miners accountable.”
Umo called on the government to wade in, and possibly regulate the activities of the companies involved in illegal mining with a view to safeguard the state from imminent disaster.
Meanwhile, in their respective presentations, Mr Kingsley Eworo from Budget Transparency and Accountability Network (BTAN), and Mr Anietie Akpan, South South Deputy Bureau Chief of the Guardian Newspaper, decried the rampant corruption that has eaten deep into the extractive industry sector in Cross River State.
This, they unanimously agreed, has deprived members of host communities the benefits from their God-given resources, and thus exposed them to the effects of environmental degradation caused by unregulated mining, and exploration activities.
The resource persons blamed the situation on political leaders and community elders for making themselves pliable and easily influenced by mining companies to rip off the people’s common wealth.
They also flayed the “divide and rule” antics employed by mining companies to weaken community resistance to their illegal and exploitative activities.
They, however, noted that corruption in the extractive industries has its peculiar issues of human rights abuses, environmental degradation, conflicts, non-disclosure, infrastructural deficits, among others.
At the end of the various presentations, the following recommendations including coherent development strategy, beneficial ownership, free prior and informed consent, transparency, benefit transfer, domestic resource mobilization, contracts, among others were made.
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