Diamantino de Azevedo urges diamond cooperatives to comply with the law

Diamantino de Azevedo, who was speaking at the opening of the second meeting on the semi-industrial activity of diamonds in Angola, also pointed out what he considered to be "significant challenges" in the field of organizing cooperatives in the sector.

"We have significant challenges from the point of view of the organization of cooperatives, namely technical and administrative organization, of observance of technical principles for the development of mining projects", said the official.

According to the minister, the fight against diamond mining, especially in the eastern region of Angola, where the activity persists, is also part of the challenges faced by authorities and partners operating in this segment of mining.

"And we also have challenges on the part of the Government bodies regarding more and better support to our cooperatives. Therefore, the responsibility for improving the situation belongs to both actors and only together will we be able to resolve these issues", he stressed.

The current status of the semi-industrial diamond exploration activity and the balance of the activities of the working group to monitor the legal conversion of mining cooperatives into commercial companies are some of the points being analyzed at this meeting.

The ministerial entity that oversees the exploration of mineral resources in Angola proposes at the meeting to verify the degree of compliance with the recommendations of the previous event, aiming to "draw other objects for the improvement of the activity of the sector's cooperatives".

"And we implement the regulation for the exploration of the semi-industrial diamond activity, which was approved, which, in addition to other legal instruments, is the main instrument", underlined Diamantino de Azevedo.

So that, he stressed, it is possible to "see the industrial activity at the level of the small and medium scale regulated, organized, more efficient and more sustainable".

In his speech, he recalled the impact of the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus in the sector, "which has greatly affected the achievement of the outlined objectives", urging, however, operators to "persist".

"We have to be persistent and continue to work towards seeing cooperatives evolve to comply with the semi-industrial regulation of diamond exploration," he defended.

"Because that alone will allow for more benefits for the State, for the communities, more respect for the environment and better compliance with national and international legislation for the sustainable exploitation of mining resources," he noted.

Officials from the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Petroleum, sector companies, members of cooperatives and others are taking part in the meeting taking place in Luanda.