Close consideration: Mineral legislation comes under the microscope

Investors to be facilitated keeping sustainable development in mind

PESHAWAR: A session to review the draft of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Mineral Act 2015 was held at the Minerals Development department on Friday, stated a handout.

Senior Minister for Irrigation and Social Welfare Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao and Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli jointly chaired the meeting. Special Assistant to Chief Minister Abdul Karim Khan, Arshad Umerzai, and other figures were present in the meeting.

Director for Planning in the mineral department Syed Bilal Khusro briefed the forum about the draft and highlighted important provisions for further discussion. The participants also discussed clauses related to authorities and powers mandated in the act.

Ministers Sherpao and Tahirkheli said the act must be simple, clear, coherent and in accordance with modern requirements. Every section and provision should also be defined properly, they stressed.



Sherpao said provincial rights must be protected on a priority basis.

He added national and international investors must be facilitated in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development.

Tahirkheli said they were going to enact the first ever mineral act of the province so it was imperative to make it the most coherent and practicable. She directed authorities to utilise all available resources.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2016.