FG Rolls out National Action Plan for Mercury Use, Solid Waste Management

In order to eliminate poisonous gaseous emission into the air, the federal government yesterday rolled out the National Action Plan (NAP) for the reduction and eventual elimination of mercury use in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector of the country.

The government also on unveiled the national policy on solid waste management and national policy on plastics waste management.

The roll outs were done in conjunction and collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) with the presentation of the Nigeria’s National Action Plan (NAP) on Mercury in the Artisanal and Small-scale Mining Sector (ASGM).

The NAP was successfully completed by the UNIDO in collaboration with the Federal Ministries of Environment, Mines and Steel Development, and Health, and the World Health Organisation, which is an obligation to the Minamata Convention on Mercury to which Nigeria is a signatory.

Speaking on the documents, UNIDO said it would chart a path to the future of gold mining and environmental sustainability in the country.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, in his good will message at the event, said NAP on Mercury in the Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is a wellarticulated document which was put together based on baline data obtained from surveys of ASGM operators across the Nigeria gold mining belt.