The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has proposed the review of the mining law to compel investors to obtain the consent of communities before applying for mineral titles.
Speaking during his maiden visits to agencies of the ministry, the minister told the management of the Mining Cadastral Office that this would end the delay in processing applications that are smearing the image of the agency.
The Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Segun Tomori, disclosed this in a statement .
Alake, who arrived at the Cadastral Office, lauded the efforts of the agency but stressed the need to do more in addressing public complaints.
8.5M
In his welcome address, the Director-General, MCO, Obadiah Nkom, expressed delight in being the first agency to host the Minister.
Restating the functions of the agency as the issuer of mining licences, he revealed the MCO, in 2022, digitised its operations with an online platform called Electronic Mining Cadastral System.
According to him, though the new platform led to a significant rise in the number of applications, there have been delays in processing applications as a result of backlogs from the old system.
“On our own part, and henceforth, any report from the extractive industry or mining engineers that do not contain the COMEG stamp should not even be brought to my attention,”, the minister affirmed.
Punch / Arafat Ayofe
