. NIWA laments quantum of revenue losses in Anambra State
The Onitsha South council
authorities had in February, this year demolished the miners' installation,
dredging equipment and sealed their mining activities along Niger Street, Ose
Ekwodu market and other parts of the River Niger banks, saying that the
buildings and equipment constituted nuisance and at the same time defaced the
topography of Onitsha as a commercial city.
But at the stakeholders meeting
held between the Miners and National Inland Water Ways Authority, NIWA, the
sand miners, under the aegis of Onitsha Sand Miners Association said they were
deeply devastated by the demolition exercise.
President of the association,
Chief Chris Mbaegbu who spoke to newsmen shortly after their meeting with NIWA,
lamented that during the demolition exercise, more than 10 crafts and sand
dredgers worth N30 million each were destroyed, while buildings worth billions
of naira were pulled down and looted by the agents of the local government
officials in the process of sealing their dredging businesses.
Mbaegbu further noted that to
worsen the matter, the action of the local government officials has rendered
more than 2000 persons in the sand mining business jobless as a result of its
multiplier effect.
He therefore urged Governor
Chukwuma Soludo to intervene and restore them back to business since the
miners' are paying revenue to both the state government, NIWA and federal
ministry of mines.
Also speaking at the meeting,
NIWA Area Manager for Onitsha. Area Office, Suleiman Athanasius Nicholas said
he convened the meeting of stakeholders when he saw a news circulating in a
social media that NIWA sold the land to some of the sand miners.
Suleiman insisted that the
meeting was equally convened to debunk such allegation of NIWA selling the
River bank to sand miners, adding that the fact remained that the miners are
tenants to those who acquired the lands from the original land owners.
"It is not in dispute that
some people like Lake Petroleum and Ugofoam who acquired the lands from Onitsha
people many years ago are landlords to the sand miners who may have rented
individual portions of the lands from the various landlords and then apply to
NIWA which has the control of 100 meters from the River for certification and
if their application is granted by NIWA, they would commence mining operations
and at the same time pay revenues to both NIWA and other statutory bodies.
He lamented that 75 percent of
all the revenues generated by NIWA from all business activities at the river
banks in the country formed part of revenues being shared between the federal,
state and local governments in the country on monthly basis as federal
allocation and wondered why the local government should interfere in sand miners
‘businesses.
He therefore urged Governor
Soludo to consider the huge losses being incurred by both the miners, NIWA, the
state and federal governments in closing down business activities of sand
miners and reopen them for business, particularly in consideration of the fact
that the river banks belong to NIWA territory.
Also speaking, two other
members of the sand miners association who identified themselves as tenants to
Lake Petroleum Limited, Chidi Iheme and Uche Okafor noted that legitimate
business activities of sand miners spanned across Nsugbe, Otuocha, and Atani
units, adding, "we have the NIWA permit to carry out mining businesses at
the river bank, just like our counterparts in Delta, Kogi, Rivers and other states
that have riverine areas.
Iheme and Okafor disclosed that
the Onitsha South Local Government authorities may have been infuriated by the
refusal of sand miners to be paying them extra revenue, apart from the ones
they are already paying to NIWA, the state government and the federal ministry
of mines.
Insisting that they never granted
any interview to social media operators to the effect that they bought the land
from NIWA with huge amount of money as they were erroneously quoted by the
social media, they pleaded with Soludo to intervene and reopen their mining
businesses at the river bank in the interest of peace and tranquility.
Reacting to the development,
Secretary to Onitsha South Local Government council, Paul Onuachalla told
newsmen on phone that NIWA over stepped it's bounds and abused it's right of
way as contained in its establishment act by going out of its way to build
parks, markets and warehouses for rents and for the purposes of collecting
revenues from the traders which is under the state and local government acts.
Onuacualla who denied
committing contempt of court by ignoring an interlocutory injunction restraining
the local government from carrying out the demolition exercise, as alleged by
the sand miners said the exercise was already completed before the arrival of
the court order.
He recalled that the local
government had warned tipper drivers against over loading their vehicles with
sands as sand usually fall out of the tippers and damaged the roads but to no
avail as the drivers continue to over load their vehicles.
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