Mines Ministry, NIR to register Artisanal Miners

By Zoe Horace 

The Ministry of Mines and Energy in partnership with the National Identification Registry (NIR) has announced a special project to register at least 100,000 miners in designated mining areas across the country.

The special project is aimed at issuing artisanal and small-scale mining identification cards (ASMID) to all miners and other actors involved in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities across the country.

Making the assertion at a joint press conference Tuesday, July 23, 2019 in Monrovia, addressed by Mines and Energy Minister Gesler E. Murray and Tiah Nagbe, Executive Director of the NIR indicated that the project is to establish a comprehensive database of all actors in the sector beginning Monday, July 29, 2019.

“We expect to complete this project by the end of October this year and under this arrangement, we are requesting all miners and anyone who operates within our designated mining are to make sure he/she is registered with NIR to obtain an ASMID card,” Minister Murray added.

According to the Minister, the NIR is expected to issue each miner a national identification card and a special identification card for miners, which is called an ASM identification card.

The Minister pointed out that the ASM represents artisanal and small-scale miners, and that the NIR will also collect additional information on behalf of the Ministry of Mines and Energy to support to the ministry`s work in regulating and fixing the messy ASM sector in Liberia.

“We want all miners and people who conduct business in our designated mining areas to know that ASM identification card will serve as the permit or authorization to enter in the mining areas in the country,” Minister Murray maintained.

The Mines and Energy Minister further warned that anyone who does not carry the ASM identification cards will not be allowed to work in these designated mining areas.

“Among those who should carry the ASM identification cards are mining claims holders, diggers, divers, brokers, dealers, equipment operators, equipment owners/leasers, and people who conduct business within designated mining sites,” he noted.

Commenting on what the country stands to benefit from the project, Minister Murray said all who are involved with this industry, from the government to the workers are to benefit.

“For us at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, this will allow us to allow us to operate a database of mining actors, which will help us regulate the ASM sector. We need to know who works in the sector, what type of work the person is doing, where is the individual working.

The national security institutions also need information on the mining actors to be able to protect workers and also make sure that mining activities do not pose security risk to the larger society,” he added.

Minister Murray indicated that Minister Murray indicated that there are also policies and programs that the ministry needs to consider for the safety, health and future wellbeing of miners, noting to put these programs into place, we must have information on those that work in the sector.
For his part, Tiah Nagbe said the NIR has the capacity to register miners at all the designated mining sites across the country.

Environmentalist fear new process

Some environmentalists in Liberia say  the latest move by the two entities  to register artisanal miners is welcoming but fear that artisanal registration cards  could be used by unscrupulous individuals to carry out illegal  mining in the country.

A Liberia environmental expert who begged for anonymity told Liberia Public Radio that the government to go beyond just registering  artisanal miners but need to carry out vigorous monitoring process.