KARACHI, July 17: The Sindh Minister for Mines and Minerals, Irfanullah Khan Marwat, has asked the officers of his department to initiate a drive for recovery of outstanding government dues from defaulting lease holders , especially cement factory owners and auction holders.

He issued the directive at a briefing given to him about the function, performance and problems of the department. Secretary, Mines and Mineral Development Israr Ahmed Shaikh was also present.

The Director General, Mines and Mineral Development briefed the minister about the department's organisational structure, availability of minerals in Sindh and its potential, grants of mining concessions, revenue receipts and existing mining activities and conditions in the field.

Marwat stressed upon the officers to work as a team to achieve the targets set by the government. He reiterated the need for creating and maintaining a Geo-data base, capacity building of employees of the department, establishing a training/rescue centre for mine workers in order to provide skilled labour in the industry and equipping officials with all necessary resources for performing their duties effectively.- APP