Those wanting to enhance their skills in mining and quarrying now have the means to do so after the Certificate IV in Mining and Quarry programme was launched yesterday.

The programme will be taught at the Fiji National University under the College of Engineering, Science and Technology.

It is a one-year course and will be offered from next year.

The Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations Jone Usamate, said the reason for introducing this was that mining and quarrying has a major source of rural employment.

“This is a significant milestone, as Fiji and our region requires us to have appropriate qualifications in place that are focused on the needs we have here in Fiji,” Mr Usamate said at the Holiday Inn Suva.

“Quarrying and mining industry, associated with transport and related service industries have had an important role in the local economy for many years.

“With the recent development such as the bauxite mining in Bua, the exploration of minerals in Namosi and Naitasiri demand more research and education in this field.

“In Fiji like in many other parts of the world the industrial minerals sector had been neglected and overlooked.

“Without these minerals there simply would not be development construction of roads, airport, wharves and buildings.

“The mining of these construction materials takes place not only in quarries, but also from rivers and coastal beaches and near-shore reef environments.

“The negative environmental and social impacts of mining are often overlooked. Likewise the potential interplay between climate change and sea-level changes and this mining is not getting the attention it deserves. Potentially a major disaster risk.

The programme was enabled through funding provided by the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP).

UNDP Fiji representative, Salma Yousif, said the course was one component of a larger initiative, ACP-EU (the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States-European Union) Development Minerals Programme.

“The aim is to improve the management of Neglected Development Minerals, which are also known as low value minerals,” she said.

Certificate IV in Mining and Quarry is said to be the only trade level qualification in this field offered at a local university.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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