By Politico staff writer
After several controversies over its legality, Kingho Mining Company Limited has on Saturday 6th March 2021 started mines in Tonkolili and the railway and port of its co-subsidiary in Pepel Town according to reports by its Communications person.
”The first set of locomotive departs from Pepel Town today at 6:00 am for the mining site in Tonkolili, where also full-scale iron ore mining has also started,” the report reads.
The operation came two months after the signing of the 192-kilometer railway and port lease agreement between Kingho Investment Company and the government of Sierra Leone that allows the company’s subsidiary- Kingho Railway and Port Company Limited utilize the infrastructure for their iron ore transportation out of the country.
The mining company got its license in 2019 to operate the New Tonkolili Iron Ore Mines and took over the site from the government of Sierra Leone on 23rd September 2020.
As a way of reawakening the awareness of the people in the rail corridor communities, the report said the company is putting safety modalities in place to ensure that residents along the railway are protected while its train operations are ongoing.
The company management admonished communities around the railway and motorbikes /vehicles to use the legal level crossings points. And that Pedestrians must maintain a 3-meter distance away from the railway on both sides.
“Communities along the railway should look after their school children, educate them not to put anything on the rail or climb up the wagons, etc., whilst communities should look after their domestic animals like goats and cattle etc,” it reads.
In addition to the community engagement on safety along the railway, the report noted that the company has employed over 200 level crossing flagmen directly from the villages around the railway.
The Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Mineral Resources, chaired by Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina in February made some rulings on the operation of the company following concerns that the company had shipped iron ore out of the country without recourse to parliament.
“With immediate effect, not later than Monday 1st March 2021, the Mining Lease Agreement of Kingho Mining Limited should be submitted to the Clerk of Parliament. 2. Commencing 15th March 2021, an un-ratified Mining Lease Agreement dictates a blanket put on hold of all tax exemption accorded to Kingho Mining Company. In view of this, the Minister of Finance is hereby notified and ordered to fully execute order No. 2,” the ruling reads in part.
But the Minister of Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Timothy Kabba said in an engagement with the Media and Civil Society Organizations in the mining sector that the misunderstanding between them and the house of parliament on the Kingho issue has been cleared of after an engagement.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 10/03/21
