Subsidiary Legislation for Minerals Sector, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

 (short-term consultancy assignment for 15 person days)

1.    Position Title & Department

Legal Expert (STTA) - Business Enabling Environment Component, SMEA project

2.    General Summary

Chemonics International is implementing Pakistan Small and Medium Enterprise Activity (SMEA), which is a 5-year, $35 million project that is aimed at improvement of financial and operating performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan in selected high-performing industrial, manufacturing and services sectors. 

Creating an enabling business environment is one of the objectives of SMEA. As such, the Project in its first year of implementation, engaged with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to identify key areas of collaboration.  Upon dialogue with the Government, a request for technical assistance was received to conduct a legal and regulatory review of KP Minerals Governance Act and subsidiary Rules in light of the Minerals Policy, which included, Minerals Auction Rules, Royalty Auction Rules, Regulation & Enforcement Rules, Minor Minerals Permit Rules, and Mineral Titles Management Rules. With successful completion of this review, a follow-on request for technical assistance has been raised by the Minerals Development Department to provide support in subsidiary legislation, to make the rules and regulations progressive, buoyant and responsive to private sector needs, promoting modern mining practices.

Pakistan is endowed with extensive geological potential but unlike other developing countries with such potential, it has not yet been able to promote growth and alleviate poverty by exploiting its natural resources to the maximum extent possible.  The country's mining industry is dominated by the public sector and there has been little or no modern exploration with the benefit of large-scale private sector investment and foreign investors with modern management, capital and technical know-how.

The minerals sector contributes about 0.5% in GDP of Pakistan and employs around 45,000 individuals. The industry mostly comprises small enterprises. With around 92 known minerals in Pakistan including chromite, copper, gold, iron ore, lead-zinc, coal, gypsum, gemstones, marble and granite, 52 are commercially being exploited. The annual production of minerals is just about 2-3 percent of total reserves, which shows huge untapped potential of mineral sector. It is estimated by SMEDA (KP Office) that around 5,000 mines have been in operation across Pakistan with 50,000 SMEs engaged in mineral sector providing 0.3 million job.

One of the major constraints faced by the sector is the use of outdated technology and obsolete mining techniques, resulting in high wastage. The majority of SMEs in the mineral sector are family-owned businesses and the sector is largely unorganized. These businesses lack adequate technical and managerial skills, due to which efficiency and innovation remain low. Lack of capital and financing, in all parts of the sector – including gems, jewelry, and marble – also limits the ability of SMEs to scale up their operations or invest in R&D. Poor availability of information with respect to geo-scientific and technological data has also hindered the growth of the sector. Proper mine/quarry management and investment is constrained across much of the country due to ineffective mining concessions, resulting in weak regulation and enforcement of mining lease agreements. As a consequence of the above, industry best practices have not been introduced and meaningful investment in technology and expertise has not been made.[1]

As a matter of Constitutional authority, mining in Pakistan is a topic of provincial authority; each province including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) maintains its own set of policies, rules and institutional arrangements that, while similar, distinctly reflect the manner in which provincial sector operations are functioning. Thus, in order to capitalize on the natural mineral endowments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and building on the joint efforts made by KPK Government and SMEA; the assignment under this scope of work will provide the Government with necessary inclusions and omissions in its subsidiary regulatory framework whereby the overall architecture of minerals sector will transform in coherence with international best practices.

3.    Objective of the Consultancy

4.    Principal Duties & Responsibilities

• Review all the relevant literature, listed under 4.1, below.
• Review and update legislation and rules directly and/or indirectly governing the mineral sector in KP
• Meet with key stakeholders, including private and public sector players, of the mines and minerals sector to complete the scope of the activity.
• Work in close coordination with the Minerals Development Department KP

 4.1: Background Reading Material

The Consultant shall read, but not be limited to, the following material to fully understand the work specified under this Consultancy:

1. KP Minerals Policy

2. KP Minerals Governance Act, 2017

3. KP Mines Safety & Regulation Act, 2018

4. Excise Duty Act

5. National Minerals Policy, 2013 (can be downloaded here)

5.    Specific Tasks of the Consultant

The specific tasks under this consultancy include;

• Formulate and/or propose amendments and incorporations in the following legal documents shared by the Minerals Development Department to bring these in line with the Mineral policy announced by the Government of KP and international best practices:

1. Amendments in Minerals Governance Act, 2017
2. Amendments in Mine Safety and Regulation Act, 2018

• Identify the specific areas in which Rules are required and should be developed by the Department, with some indicative guidelines on what these Rules should be.
• Develop amended Acts (listed above) in the form of a report.
• The consultant should be a lawyer, with an experience of at least 15 years.
• The consultant must have prior experience in drafting legislation, rules, and regulations for the mineral sector.
• Previous experience of working with USAID projects in the area of economic growth will be preferred

6.    Job Qualifications

• The consultant should be a lawyer, with an experience of at least 15 years.
• The consultant must have prior experience in drafting legislation, rules, and regulations for the mineral sector.
• Previous experience of working with USAID projects in the area of economic growth will be preferred

7.    Duty Station

The consultant will be based in Peshawar/Islamabad and will be working closely with the BEE team. In case of non-availability of a suitable resource, we could look into the possibility of hiring a consultant based in any other city.

 8.    Workspace and Use of Personal Laptop and Software(s)

The consultant will be required to use his own personal laptop and must certify that all software used are genuine and licensed; to ensure that the project’s IT resources are protected from accidental destruction or deliberate attempts at sabotage by computer viruses and other hazards.

9.    Reporting

 The consultant will be required to report to BEE, Deputy Component Lead and his/her work will be jointly supervised by the Senior Policy Advisor and Deputy Component Lead.

10.  Duration of the Assignment

This job is planned to take place as per a start date of on, or around, May 20, 2019 and end-date of on, or around, July 31, 2019 (subject to date of mobilization), hereto for a total of 15 days LOE. The total LOE will be spread over a period of 2 months.

11.  Deliverables

The following are the key deliverables and their associated deadlines. The final deliverable of this assignment is the Report on revised edition of subsidiary legislation. The timeline for the LOE assigned for each activity as mentioned in the following table will be discussed and agreed with the technical team and the consultant.

Application Instructions

• Send latest CV, with 3 references, to [email protected], by Sunday, May 5, 2019. 
• Mention ‘KP Minerals Sector Legislation’ in the subject line.
• Applications without these items may not be considered. No telephone inquiries, please.
• Only finalists will be contacted.
• Client reserves the right to reject any or all applications, without assigning reason.

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