Team Herald
PANJIM: The Mining Engineers’ Association of India (MEAI)-Goa Chapter, appealed to Centre and State government for immediate resurrection of mining in Goa to overcome the unemployment crisis across the State and make the most of the current situation, where international demand for iron ore is high.
In the press statement, MEAI raised serious concern over increasing unemployment of mining professionals in the State and the lost opportunities due to the delay in arriving at a solution to restart the industry. Now, hardly 10 per cent of the total workforce, dependent on mining industry is being able to survive with current iron ore activities.
“Goa is losing not only on employment opportunities but also on earning higher State revenue which is directly proportional to the international prices,” said Cletus D’Souza, chairman of MEAI Goa Chapter.
D’Souza claimed that mining resumption in Goa is vital for the economic revival and sustaining stable future for the qualified mining professionals in the State.
D’Souza lamented that the ongoing e-auction activities is not likely to create any opportunity for technical mining professionals.
“It is estimated that only about 7000 employment are able survive with the current activities going on. This is only 10 per cent of the 75000 plus employment that existed in the past in a situation where no other employment opportunities were open,” explained D’Souza.
He said that Goa is at complete stalemate in terms of economic growth, employment rate and overall development due to stoppage of mining industry since 2018.
“There was a golden opportunity for State to overcome after tourism industry was hit due to COVID crisis. We as a State are missing the opportunity for higher State revenue from mining industry as the international prices are still at a high since for the last one and half year,” he claimed.
With reference to the formation of Mining Corporation, D’Souza said that it is sad to see that government finds no place for professional mining people in the body proposed to set up Mining Corporation.
“Decision on mining matters right from exploration to operations needs technical expertise and can fail miserably if not tackled in a structured manner,” said D’Souza, adding that that the formation of a new corporation and it exercise of detailed exploration might take at least 2 to 3 years.
