By Rachel NtubeNgwese in Yaounde
 |
| Rep. of ACP, Mrs. NajatRochdi |
Stakeholders in the mining sector have met
in Yaoundé for a seminar organized by the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) in partnership with the ACP-EU mineral program. The two-day working
session was aimed to officially launch the ACP-EU program in favor of mining
development in Cameroon. It also had as objective to seek ways and means of
rendering the mining sector more attractive to investors and more beneficial to
the local population.
It
brought together representatives of regulatory and administrative organs of the
sector, heads of small and medium size enterprises, training institutions and
universities, civil society organizations and local councils. Also present were
some high profile personalities including the Cameroon Ambassador to Belgium,
the personal representative of the Secretary General of the ACP Group, Mrs.
NajatRochdi, the resident representative of the united nations in Cameroon,
Mats Liljefelt, the head of the EU delegation to Cameroon, the technical
specialist of the ACP-EU mineral development program and the Cameroon minister
of mines, industries and technological development Ernest Gbwaboubou.
The program to run for two years seeks to
reinforce capacities of stakeholders and actors in the management and
development of artisanal and industrial mining deposits.
Estimated to cost some 13.1 million Euros
jointly financed by the European commission and the UNDP, it will entail
training programs, provision of subventions, provision of mining charts and
data bases, elaboration of environmental, health and security rules and the
organization of community dialogues and technological fairs.
For
a better execution of their projects in the country, UNDP and MINMIDT prior to
last week’s seminar had organized a working session with actors in the mining
sector to acknowledge the availability of the various minerals within their
domain of interest, and the different mining systems they desire to develop
notably artisanal, semi-industrial and industrial exploitation systems.
At
the end of the meeting, priorities of the sector as were identified by the
experts were validated; the site for the pilot phase of the program was
identified, a road map for the implementation of the program and an action plan
were equally elaborated.
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