The Minister of Mines and Energy, Wilmot Paye, has urged aggrieved residents of Ben-Ben Town in Mount Coffee Township, Montserrado County, to discourage all forms of violence.
Minister Paye speaking during a one day meeting encouraged the residents to embrace peaceful coexistence while they await the Ministry’s resolution of a mining dispute which has since engulfed the area leading to the deaths of two persons and destruction of properties.
He assured the residents that an amicable resolution to their differences will be reached soon.
The Mines and Energy Boss informed them that the Ministry is deeply concerned about the divisions which led his administration to placing a moratorium on all mining activities in the town and its environs in November last year.
The Minister said, government’s obligation to protect lives and properties necessitated the decision to temporarily ban mining operations in Ben-Ben Town.
Having listened to separate accounts of the conflict from the two groups, Minister Paye stated that their surprised gathering at the Ministry seeking redress to their dispute came on the heels of the Ministry dispatching a delegation to the town, headed by the Deputy Ministry for Operations, William Hines.
Deputy Minister Hines’ fact-finding visit, according to the Mines and Energy Minister is meant to gather further information vital to the Ministry resolving the standoff.
He used the Wednesday meetings with residents of Ben-Ben Town to assure the public that at all times, his team of administrators will ensure that the Ministry of Mines and Energy as the only regulator of the Mining Sector in Liberia remains impartial in settling all conflict situation arising amongst miners and residents of mining sites/towns.
“If we had a side in your conflict, will we have placed a ban on mining activities in the area?”, he stated.
Also attending the crisis-resolution meetings were the Deputy Minister for Operations, William Hines, Assistant Minister for Mines, Carlos Edison Tingban, Director of Mines, Alwell Aloysius Carr, and the Deputy Inspector-General of the Ministry, Adolphus Gleekia.
