FG inaugurates committee to facilitate aluminium production

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Musa Mohammed Sada, has inaugurated a technical committee to liaise with UC Rusal Aluminium Smelter Company at Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, to facilitate the production of aluminium and aluminium products in the country.

The committee was inaugurated after a meeting between officials of the ministry, led by the minister and representatives of UC Rusal Aluminium Smelter Company at his office in Abuja.

Mr Sada said that the technical committee was inaugurated for the minerals and metals sector to meet the production target of 100,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum by 2013.

The minister said: “We should have a sustained dialogue. If we have a sustained dialogue, we will be able to assist your company to work very well because the ministry is helping to supervise and oversee your operations. If there are problems, they have to be solved through dialogue and necessary actions to enable the company to succeed in its production.”

Mr Sada noted the company’s operational challenges, which were irregular gas supply, intermittent electricity supply, the need to dredge the Imo River and labour union issues, which, he said, could always be addressed through interaction and dialogue with the company’s management and other relevant government agencies at both the state and federal levels.

The minister expressed satisfaction over the meeting, because it provided an opportunity for both parties to re-connect on how progress could be made on the issue of increased production of aluminium in the country.

Sada said the government took the decision to privatise the Aluminiun Smelter Company because it wanted good results, adding that the government was interested in the progress of the company.