We are not giving control of the province's mineral resources to anyone else, says Chief Minister Gandapur

In his video statement regarding the proposed amendment to the Mines and Minerals Act, Chief Minister Gandapur said that a misunderstanding is being spread regarding the proposed amendment to the Mines and Minerals Act.

The Chief Minister clarified that in this amendment, no authority of the provincial government is being given to anyone, no one can give the authority of the province to anyone and no one can take it from us, such rumors are baseless and fabricated which are probably being spread out of malice towards me.

The Chief Minister said that he is carrying out reforms in the minerals sector and it is unfortunate that an attempt is being made to give the reforms a wrong color, it seems that there is a mafia who is opposing the reforms for their personal interests.

Ali Amin Gandapur further said that his government has increased the province’s revenue through better policies and reforms in the minerals sector, some elements are spreading false propaganda to obstruct our good initiatives.

He said that for the last 76 years, illegal mining was taking place in four placer gold sites in the province. In the past, no government tried to stop this illegal mining. As soon as we took over the government, we auctioned these four placer gold sites in a clean and transparent manner, through which the provincial government received an income of five billion rupees.

Ali Amin Gandapur further said that in the past, the total annual income of the Minerals Department was as much as we received from only four sites. Similarly, we have also significantly increased the income of the province through other measures.

The Chief Minister said that further reforms are needed in the minerals sector for the financial self-sufficiency of the province. In this regard, we are tightening the laws to prevent illegal mining. In the new law, the machinery of those involved in illegal mining will be confiscated by the government.

The Chief Minister said that special attention is being paid to the value addition of the province's precious minerals because sending raw minerals is neither setting up industries in the province, nor is it providing employment to people, nor is it increasing the province's income.

The Chief Minister said that we are extending the lease period of investors who will invest on a large scale in the province and will do value addition here, and similarly, the period for starting mining on the site after obtaining the lease is being reduced. This step will discourage such lease holders who do not start mining work for a long time after obtaining the lease, and the province is suffering from the loss of not starting mining for a long time after obtaining the lease.

The Chief Minister said that earlier, many decisions related to mineral leases were made by a single person, namely the Director General, now we are forming a multi-member committee to bring transparency, which includes only officers from the relevant departments of the provincial government.

He clarified that the new amendments have proposed such reform measures that will uplift the mineral sector. Ali Amin Gandapur said that the talk of handing over the province's minerals to someone else is just propaganda, we have been given a mandate by the people of the province, we are fighting for the rights of the province, we have been fighting for NFC, hydropower profits, merged district funds, tobacco cess and other constitutional and legal rights of the province since the beginning.

He said that this is our soil, we will not compromise on its interests nor will we allow anyone to interfere in our powers. The Chief Minister further said that for the past few days, a misunderstanding has been being spread without seeing and understanding things and people are being misled. "If the conspirators do not like me, then they should talk about me but do not make such false propaganda, if anyone wants to talk about this issue, then he should come and talk by keeping the relevant records in front of him."

The Chief Minister further clarified that these proposed amendments have just been presented in the Assembly where they have to be discussed by both the government and the opposition before being approved. If any suggestions for further improvement are made, they will also be part of these amendments.

The Chief Minister categorically rejected the propaganda of handing over powers to someone else and appealed to the people not to be part of such propaganda. Those who are doing such propaganda are neither the people, nor the province, nor the well-wishers of Imran Khan.

Source: Express.pk