From Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja , 09.19.2010 

 

There are indications that the World Bank-funded Sustainable  Management of Mineral Resources  Project (SMMRP) may be wound up  sometime in  2011, about a year before the May 2012 terminal date when it was expected to have fully utilised the $120 million (N18 billion) loan the Federal Government secured from the Bretton Woods institution in 2005. Already, the Federal Government is in the process of contracting an  additional $80 million (N12bn) loan from the World Bank to consolidate the SMMRP project.   

 

To this end, a stakeholders’ meeting has been planned for today. A source in the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) told THISDAY that the $80 million loan  being sought is meant to finance medium scale miners because they were not accounted for in the $120 million project, which only covered artisanal and small scale miners. The Federal Government had in 2005 secured a $120 million loan from the World Bank for the development of the nation’s solid minerals sector and the loan is being disbursed under the Sustainable  Management of Minerals Resources Project of the MSMD. 

 

The World Bank credit is on standard International Development Association (IDA) terms, with a commitment fee of 0.5 per  cent and a  service charge of 0.75 per cent. The credit’s period of maturity is 35 years, including a 10-year period of grace.The project was scheduled to run for five years, ending in 2010. However due to the recent political interference, the government asked  for an extension by two years, which was granted. 

 

As such, project had been shifted to 2012,  but THISDAY learnt that, there is every possibility that the fund may be fully utilised before the terminal  year. Already, the SMMRP, which is a project management unit (PMU) under the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development had so far received about $90 million, out of which $10 million  had been  set aside as grants for  artisans. National Coordinator, SMMRP, Engr. Linus Adie,   said in an interview with THISDAY that  the $90  million which  been disbursed for the  project  will be  “exhausted meaningfully” by December, expressing the optimism that before the 2012 end of the project, the remaining $30 million  will utilized. 

 

“We have spent $90 million. We run a system of disbursement and retiring. Disbursement and Procurement are in accordance with World Bank guidelines and the Credit Agreement. We have achieved a lot and if we continue like this by the end of the year the money will be exhausted meaningfully. “We were suppose to spend the money for 5 years but there was political interference and the project was suspended and the crisis of changing ministers  and upturn of policies we asked for additional two more years which will be over  in 2012 but I think we will finish the project before that time,” he said. 

 

Adie confirmed that the Federal Government  may source an  additional financing from the World Bank to consolidate the project. He said the government was confident of securing the fresh based on PMU’s track record of proper accountability in the soon-to-be-concluded $120million project. Adie noted  that, there are four components of the SMMRP project. The first, he explained addresses the main objective, which is  Economic Development and Livelihood  Diversification in Artisanal and Small Scale Mining. “It deals mainly on  artisanal mining, that is providing alternative livelihood to the rural communities through the development of artisanal and small scale mining.” 

 

He added that, the second component, which is Strengthening Governance and Transparency in Mining was designed to create a conducive environment for mining. According to him, “the policy, regulatory, legal  and the physical frame work have been concluded. Then the governance of the sector itself has almost been concluded. To achieve this, we formed the cadastre office which is responsible for the granting and management of all mining titles in the country as much as possible without any form of political  interference but ensuring security of tenures and transferability so it’s on going and that is why people are coming into the sector. 

 

Besides, the coordinator pointed out that, there is a third component, which deals the Private Sector Development. “It involves the generation of information to the private sector. we have achieved a lot in that  area as Nigeria is one of the few countries that can boost of total coverage in  the airborne digital geo-physical survey, the geochemical mapping is on-going  and that will take a long time because it is much more tedious and for two years  we were able to do two sets, one in Osun State and the other in Kaduna State,” he stated.

 

Source:ThisDay