The Advocate for Social Justice and Development Sierra Leone (ASJD-SL), a consortium of civil society organisations, has positioned itself to promote national resource governance and management with the theme: “Corporate Responsive Promotion of Investment in Natural Resource Governance and Management”.
The Director of ASJD-SL, Arthur Kargbo, told a news conference in Freetown on Wednesday that they are committed to ensure that the country’s natural resources become the main driver of economic growth. He said that they are of the opinion that natural resources, if properly managed and utilized could improve the lives of citizens and develop the nation and its drive to generate more revenue. He said that the Consortium is an independent group with a composition of active non-governmental and community-based group on mining and extractives.
Kargbo said that the Consortium is to advocate, lobby, and monitor government to set out a results oriented framework through which it manages the natural resources for economic transformation, growth and sustainable development that will protect the environment and improve value chain processes.
The spokesperson of the Consortium, Ibrahim Bockarie, said that the Consortium covers governance and management of all natural rights in the country including activities through the mineral value chain. He said that their intervention will cover the oil and gas sector, marine, quarrying and ground water resources and artisanal and small scale mining; and follow up on regulations and enforcement with special reference to the formalization and social transformation of the sectors.
Bockarie said that among the key objectives of the Consortium include advocating for the creation of a fair and predictable fiscal regime that increase market competitiveness, attracting legitimate investments and enhancing sustainable economic transformation, development and economic growth. He said that the organisation also promotes economic linkages between the natural resource sector and other sectors of the economy that will catalyze economic diversification, growth, and furthered that it supports rural community development and meets international health and safety standards.
He went on to also inform that the Consortium promotes improved revenue management with more equitable distribution of benefits and prudent investment of natural resource revenue; monitor the application of high level environmental standards that are appropriate for all categories of mineral rights; and monitor investors in the mineral sector to ensure compliance with Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) requirement and engage meaningfully in the Sierra Leone Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative process.
By Alusine Sesay
11/02/2021. ISSUE NO: 8000