By Bishop Witmos

Mangochi, April 11, Mana: Minister of Mining Monica Chang’anamuno has urged district councils in the country to support her ministry in regulating the mining industry to arrest illegal mining, which she said is rampant in the country.

Speaking during an awareness meeting with members of Mangochi District Council and Mangochi Municipal Council on Wednesday, Chang’anamuno observed that some foreigners were operating small-scale mining in the country without authorization.

The minister said illegal mining benefits foreigners at the expense of local people who, by virtue of being Malawians, were supposed to be benefitting from the mining industry.

She said that while government is in the process of devolving Ministry of Mining to local councils, it is the duty of relevant sectors in district councils to take a leading role in preventing illegal mining and mineral trade.

“We have established that there has been a tendency of people coming from outside the country to do mining and some of them come here without licenses.

“As a result, so many foreigners are doing small-scale mining by extracting minerals in hotspot districts. This is illegal because it is only local people who are supposed to do small-scale mining,” she said.

Added Chang’anamuno: “Therefore, we would want district councils to be vigilant in making sure that they are following up on the issues that are happening in the hotspot areas. As a ministry, we cannot do this work on our own, and we would want every sector at district council to take their role.”

She further said that some investors are taking advantage of ignorance of local people on pricing by buying minerals at give-away prices.

Chang’anamuno therefore said that government will within this financial year establish a mining authority to bring sanity in the mining industry.

In his remarks, District Commissioner for Mangochi, Smart Gwedemula, commended the minister for the awareness meeting, saying it was timely.

“The coming of the minister is timely, as in Mangochi we have had so many concerns regarding the way mining activities have been operated. Indeed, mining activities must be owned by everybody, including those in rural areas, in order for us to benefit from these natural resources,” said Gwedemula.

Before visiting Mangochi, the minister toured Zomba where she ordered that illegal mining in Traditional Authority Mbiza should stop after observing the extent of land degradation and many social ills associated with the illegal mining in the area.