Ministry of Mines and Energy
Miners Identification Project
Undertaken in Collaboration with the National Identification Registry (NIR)
Minister of the Ministry of Mines & Energy (MME) Press Statement on the Announcement of the Project
Delivered at a Press Conference held on July 23, 2019 at MME Headquarters
Ladies and gentlemen of the Press:
I am delighted to welcome you to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) for this important press conference held during this historic week marking the 172nd Independence Day anniversary of our beloved Country, Liberia. I have here with me the Executive Director of the National Identification Registry (NIR), Hon. J. Tiah Nagbe, who will jointly host this press engagement with me.
We have invited you here to inform you and, through you, our people across the Country that the Ministry of Mines and Energy will be working in partnership with the National Identification Registry to issue Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Identification Cards (ASMID) to all miners and other actors involved in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining(ASM) activities across the Country so as to establish a comprehensive database of all actors in the sector beginning Monday, July 29, 2019. We expect to complete this project by the end of October this year. Under this arrangement, we are requesting all miners and anyone who operates within our designated mining areas to make sure he/she is registered with the National Identification Registry and has obtained an ASMID card.
The NIR will issue to each miner a national identification card and a special ID card for miners, which we call the ASM ID card. ASM represents Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners. The NIR will also collect additional information on behalf of the MME to support our work in regulating and fixing the messy ASM sector in Liberia.
We want all miners and people who conduct business in our designated mining areas to know that the ASM ID card will serve as the permit or authorization to enter the mining areas. This means that anyone who does not carry the ASM ID card will NOT be allowed to work in these mining areas. Among those who should carry the ASM ID card are mining claim holders, diggers, divers, brokers, dealers, equipment operators, equipment owners/leasers/managers, and people who conduct business within mining sites.
This identification project will bring many benefits to all who are involved with this industry, from the Government to the workers. For us at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, this will allow us to operate a database of mining actors, which will help us regulate the ASM sector. We need to know who works in the sector, what type of work the person is doing, where is the individual working, etc. National security institutions also need information on the mining actors to be able to protect workers and also make sure that mining activities do not pose security risks to the larger society. There are also policies and programs that the Ministry needs to consider for the safety, health and future financial well-being of miners. To put these programs into place, we must have information on those that work in this sector.
It is for these reasons and many more that we are undertaking this project. Therefore, we count on the cooperation of all those involved.
Thank you.