Warning bells: FMAO rejects Mineral Ordinance 2016

PESHAWAR: Representatives of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Frontier Mine Owners Association (FMOA) rejected the Mineral Ordinance 2016. They urged the provincial government to implement the First Mineral Policy 2014 and threatened to protest if their demand was not met. Speaking at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, FMOA President Sher Bandi Khan Marwat said the First Mineral Policy 2014 was devised with consensus of mine owners. He said the Mineral Ordinance 2016 was a violation of basic human rights since under it, renewal of lease was ceased and mines project was handed over to the mineral department to be auctioned to the highest bidder. Sher Mandi said the ordinance gave 247,000 acres to rich mine owners and only 1,000-2,000 acres to small-scale mine owners. “This is injustice with people of the sector,” he said. The president said FMAO representatives met Minister for Mines and Minerals Department Anisa Zaib Tahirkheli who assured them that their issues would be resolved.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2016.