Valuable minerals
Through your daily I would like to thank our Honourable Finance Minister AKM Muhith for granting me an interview on 20th July, 2009.
During our brief meeting I apprised the minister of the need for development and commercial utilisation of our valuable beach minerals-- rutile, garnet, magnetite, monazite and zircon etc known as 'Black Gold' of Cox's Bazar worth billions of US dollars which are lying unused, uncared for, wasted and lost into the sea for decades together.
The honourable minister told me that he had the information that the beach sand minerals were not economically viable.
I informed the minister that he might have not got the correct information. I said that if the beach sand was not economically viable the foreign mineral companies of Australia and Singapore would not have applied to our Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources for a mining license and permission for export of our beach sand containing valuable minerals stated above.
I opposed export of our beach sand for cogent reasons and suggested that a team of our government experts and journalists may visit Cox's Bazar with me to see for themselves some of the mineral deposit sites.
I strongly feel that a co-ordination meeting of the concerned officials/representatives/experts of the Prime Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce may be held to consider, examine and to find the ways and means for the development and commercial utilisation of the valuable minerals 'Black-Gold' without further loss of time.
If we fail to take necessary steps now, the valuable minerals 'Black-Gold' may be lost for ever due to world climate change and rise in the seawater level.
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