Government's intervention over the Zamfara lead poison of year 2010 has attained remarkable achievements particularly in the areas of environmental remediation, sensitization on safer mining practice and treatment of the affected victims.
This disclosure was made by the Country Head of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), Michelle Chouinard and Simba Tirima, the Director of Field Operations, TerraGraphics International Foundation, who were at the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to discuss strategy for further alliances to prevent future occurrence of lead poisoning in Zamfara and in any other state of the country.
The Director of Field Operations, TerraGraphics International Foundation, Simba Tirima also said that the essence of their visit was to inform the Ministry that the remediation exercise at Bagega in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State has been completed.
TerraGraphics International Foundation is a USA based Company that partnered with the Federal Ministry of Environment to handle the remediation programme at Bagega as a result of the lead poison incident while Medecins Sans Frontieres is involved in the treatment of the victims of the lead poison.
Tirima said, he and Michelle Chouinard were impressed with what the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development was doing on the Safer Mining Programme and reiterated their desire for continuous collaboration with the ministry and other stakeholders involved in the various intervention programmes.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Linus Awute who received the guests commended the team for their various roles in stopping the death incidents occasioned by the lead poison.
In the words of the Permanent Secretary: "We are scaling up our programme of sensitization on safer mining to prevent future occurrence of lead poisoning in Zamfara State and in other States of the country. Accordingly, we have lined up some ambitious programmes for effective implementation of our work plan on a sustainable basis. The Ministry's 2013 budget has a funding window for use in widening the scope of our mining extension services and inspectorate activities which are on-going."
Mr. Awute also disclosed that the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development had procured safety kits and wears for safer mining for distribution to the artisanal and small scale miners at the critical flash points in Zamfara State where field demonstrations on best mining practices, are being carried out by field officers of the Ministry.
The wet milling and igoli machines for the safer mining programme ordered from South Africa would arrive the country soonest. On arrival, Awute said, the safer alternative equipment for processing of gold ores would be installed at three mineral processing centres in Bagega, Kwali and Maru.
According to the Permanent Secretary, three outposts would be constructed at Bagega, Kwali and Maru in Zamfara State, adding that the outpost at Bagega had already been completed with a mineral buying centre and work was in progress for the completion of the other two outposts.
The Permanent Secretary said, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has plans in its future budgets to extend the safer mining programme to other States of the federation beyond Zamfara State to build mineral processing centres among other things, he further narrated. All these are the painstaking efforts of Government towards ensuring that avoidable environmental and health disasters are prevented in Nigeria's mining industry.
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