Federal Govt Inaugurates Committee To Mitigate Mercury Pollution

The Federal Ministry of Environment has inaugurated the project steering committee for the Global Environment Facility Gold (GEF GOLD+) Nigeria Project, which aims to eradicate mercury pollution within the country’s Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) sector.

The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Mahmud Adam Kambari, in his inaugural message yesterday in Abuja, stated that the project’s core objectives are to substantially reduce mercury use within the ASGM sector in Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kebbi states.

Kambari revealed that the Project would also assist in establishing a robust framework for a nationwide transition towards sustainable and environmentally sound mining practices.

The permanent secretary who explained that Nigeria, as a signatory and Party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, has demonstrated its commitment by developing a National Action Plan (NAP) for the reduction and eventual elimination of mercury use in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) in Nigeria between 2017 and 2020, also said the GEF GOLD+ Nigeria Project builds upon the foundation laid by the NAP and holds paramount importance for the Federal Ministry of Environment and for the nation as a whole.

While assuring that the project will not only effectively mitigate significant environmental risks but will equally contribute substantially to the economic empowerment of mining communities and the development of a transparent and responsible gold supply chain within Nigeria, Kambari noted that the Project Steering Committee will bear the crucial responsibility of providing strategic guidance and actionable recommendations to support the project’s overarching objectives effectively.

Earlier, Professor Gilbert Adie, the executive director of the Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the African Region (BCCC-A), said the Project’s overall goal is to enhance the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining activities in Nigeria and achieve mercury-free technologies in the sector.