ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – A Non-Governmental Organisation, Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), has called for the enforcement of the provisions of Community Development Agreements (CDA) to improve the welfare of mining host communities.
The Executive Director of RDI, Philip Jakpor, made the call in an interview on Friday in Abuja.
Reports that the Federal Government unveiled the revised guidelines for CDA in the mining sector in 2023.
The CDA is a legal document that contains obligations by the Mineral Title Holder (MTH) to her host community (ies) and vice versa.
The move aims to ensure that host communities derive maximum benefits from the operations of mining companies in their areas.
Jakpor decried that in the past, extractive companies signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with host communities, which were legally non-binding, unlike the CDA that has legal backing.
He noted that the review would help address environmental degradation, poor infrastructure, health issues and poverty, among other challenges in mining host communities.
”So I think the government is waking up in that regard when the focus is community development agreements and not MOUs.
”It is a good initiative so that at any point in time when these mining firms breach those agreements, the community can sue them because it is their land.
“Any violation that happens, they should have the right to take those kind of decisions, so that is a positive one, we just expect government to go through what they have said, matching words with action,” he said.
Jakpor noted that the Mining Act 2007 contains many obsolete provisions, but expressed hope that in 2024, the Federal Government began a review of the law to address such gaps.
He urged the government to allocate 10 per cent of mining revenue to the mining communities instead of the 5 per cent they were proposing in the review.
“We in the civil society front have been advocating that it should be 10 per cent or more, and that’s what obtains in other climes where extraction is going on.
“10 per cent will be a good starting point, but not 5 per cent for us, because they (mining communities) bear the impact of extraction pollution.
“This is like what is happening in Nasarawa, where Chinese firms have destroyed the river that services about 12 or 15 communities,” he said.
NAN recalls that the RDI had petitioned the Nasarawa State House of Assembly on the state of the mining communities in Awe and Karu local government areas of the state, respectively.
The NGO had in the petition urged the House to conduct a fact-finding visit to the areas.
It claimed in the petition that the community alleged that the Rafin Jaki River, their only source of water, had been polluted and caused the deaths of some children in 2023.
According to the RDI boss, no amount can replace the loss of lives, but the review will help in addressing some of their challenges.
“What can they give that can replace lives that have been lost?
“We learned about nine or so children died after consuming the water, the company owned up to the fact that the water is polluted, and that they provided borehole instead.
“You have a river, you have borehole, look at the difference, how many people will the borehole service?” he said.
“We are talking about 12 to 15 communities, and you build about four boreholes to service that kind of a community, it can never be replaced.
“So that kind of community if you are giving them 5 per cent of mining revenues, you will not solve the problem,” Jakpor added.(NAN)
