Mr Olailekan Adegbite, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, says the ministry is making effort to ensure that the Metallurgical Bill is passed into law before the end of the Ninth Assembly.
Adegbite made this known during the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
He said that the ministry had drafted another metallurgical bill with the support of relevant stakeholders that would soon be received by the National Assembly.
He said it became imperative to draft another metallurgical bill as the initial bill drafted was rejected by the National Assembly.
“The initial metallurgical bill drafted was sent to the National Assembly and there was public hearing on the bill but the Nigerian Society for Engineers (NSE) objected the bill and it was returned to the ministry.
“The ministry and other relevant stakeholders met and drafted another new bill that is currently going through process from the ministry to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and other sources.
“Hopefully, this new bill will be passed into law before the Ninth Assembly tenure expires,” he said,
NAN recalls that the initial metallurgical bill drafted spent mor than a decade on the floor of the National Assembly.
If the bill is passed into law, it would control the excesses of steel manufacturers or steel producers, as well as curb both economic and human losses in the industry.
Presently, without the bill, little or nothing could be done to cater for the health, safety, environmental conditions and general welfare of workers in the industries who were exposed to industrial hazards.
The bill is expected to minimise loss of revenue that the country continues to suffer due to non regulation of the sector.(NAN)
