The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) said that currently the process of extracting precious and semi-precious stones is going on transparently. The ministry’s spokesman Humayun Afghan, said that the ministry is trying to provide more facilities in the field of mining, especially precious stones in the country.
The spokesman added: “We generally have precious stones in the provinces of Nuristan, Kunar, Laghman, Panjshir and Badakhshan, and after the Islamic Emirate came into power, the mining process is getting done in a transparent way, and illegal mining has been completely prevented.”
At the same time, the manager of a jewelry processing and manufacturing factory said that they built the factory at a cost of 30 million Afghanis.
The partners of this factory added that currently their sales are only inside Afghanistan and they asked the Islamic Emirate to provide them with the opportunity to export abroad.
Abdul Aziz, the owner of the factory, told TOLOnews: “Our request to the Islamic Emirate and the relevant departments is to facilitate and pave the way because the precious stones are the important economic resources.”
Currently more than 20 people are working in this factory.
Workers at the factory said the creation of factories are beneficial in providing work and preventing the migration of young people abroad.
“Our request from the Islamic Emirate is to have more activities in this process, so that the young people here are not forced to go abroad and put their lives in danger,” Omar, a worker, told TOLOnews.
The lack of sufficient electricity and lack of land in industrial parks is one of the challenges that always made factory owners face problems and also caused a decrease in their production.
“Unfortunately, there is no electricity. Sometimes the electricity is for six hours and sometimes it is for eight hours. We don’t have electricity for more than eight hours,” said Abdul Ahad, another worker.
According to the information of the Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM), more than 6,000 factories are operating in various sectors in the country.
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) said that four mining contracts worth more than 10.1 billion Afs have been signed with several companies.
The acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar said that the coal mine in the Karukh district of Herat, the gold mine in the Dushi district in Baghlan, the iron mine in the Pashtun Zarghoon district of Herat, and the chromite mine of Koh-e-Safi district of Parwan have been handed over to different companies.
Shahabuddin Delawar also said that based on the agreement between the ministry and the companies, mined materials will be processed inside the country, and in case of violation, the contracts with the companies will be terminated.
“The total investment in these mines, which I mentioned, is 10 billion 150 million 910 thousand 825 Afghanis,” he said. The acting minister added that over $100 million has been invested in the building of the factory of fuel refinement in the Amu Darya basin in the province of Sar-e-Pul.
According to Delawar, based on the order of the leader of the Islamic Emirate, 450 out of 1700 emerald mines in Panjshir have been handed over to the residents of this province, and up to now $2,600,770 worth of emeralds have been extracted and over 10,000 Panjshir residents have been provided with employment opportunities.
“In three or four months, $2,600,770 worth of emeralds have been sold and are good for people. And some people extract it and sell it in auctions,” Shahabuddin Delawar added.
At the same time, some officials of the companies who won the contracts, emphasized that they will obey the agreement and will provide regional people with employment opportunities.
“We agreed and we are committed to provide complete service to the Islamic Emirate and to provide working opportunities for the nation,” said Wali Mohammad, the director of a company.
Based on the information of the MoMP, the extraction of the chromite mine of Koh-e-Safi in Parwan Province has been contracted for 5 years, and the contract for the other three mines has been set for 30 years each.—Tolonews
