From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The Federal Government is to establish a small scale mineral processing cluster in Cross River State.
The cluster, to be coordinated by Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, would serve the South South of the country.
Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogar, disclosed this in Calabar, yesterday, while receiving title documents for a five-hectare land donated by the Cross River government for the project.
“The development of small scale mineral processing cluster project is an initiative of the Federal Government in a swift response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The goal of the project is to spur and ensure sustainable growth of socio-economic activities across the sub-economic sectors of the nation.
“The Federal Government’s choice of Cross River for the siting of the cluster project for barite value chain development is predicated on the fact that the state is endowed with large commercial deposits of the mineral.
“Barite deposit occurrences in Cross River State are mainly around Obubra through to Yala Local Government Area which informed the siting of the cluster project in Yala,” Ogar said.
Governor Ben Ayade commended the Federal Government for looking beyond politics and nepotism to bringing the project to the state.
He said the state is the largest producer of barite and that the resource stretches for a very large area of the state.
“You asked for five hectares and we will gladly expand it to 10 hectares if you want to underscore our commitment to the project,” Ayade said through his deputy, Ivara Esu, who represented him at the event.