Ebonyi govt bars communities from engaging investors

The Ebonyi State Government has barred communities where mineral deposits are found from engaging investors without clearance from it.

The Commissioner for Solid  Minerals, Chief Donatus Njoku, who disclosed this while speaking with newsmen, in Abakaliki, at the weekend, said that the essence was to enable the government know those who were genuine investors coming into the state.

“There are people who we call speculators in the sector. They are people who will come, get licenses and claim to be investor, but when given job, that is when they will start looking for another investor. And there are other people who will come and get license but it will take them 10 to 15 years before they will start doing something and these are the kind of people we don’t want”, he explained.

He said that, “government equally want to be sure that somebody through back door does not get an investor into the state or a situation where an investor after signing agreement will want to lord it into our people.”

He noted that the state was blessed with mineral deposits such as lead, zinc, granite, marble and limestone for cement production, etc.