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Vice-president Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has challenged the Minerals Commission to ensure an effective and efficient integrated mining sector capable of resolving mining challenges in the country. He also asked the management of the commission to address the delays associated with the acquisition of mineral rights for the sector to thrive. Mr Amissah-Arthur made the call when he inaugurated a new head office complex of the Minerals Commission in Accra yesterday. The building, constructed at a cost of GH�5.8 million, is to serve as a one-stop shop for an efficient regulation of the mining industry in the country. Mr Amissah-Arthur said the mineral sector had undergone several challenges in the last three decades which had led to the fallen production levels and poor infrastructure in the area. He, however, observed that the sector, which accounted for 40 per cent of the country�s merchandise exports in the recent past, had witnessed some level of investments, employing more than 112,000 people. To further improve on the sector�s fortunes, he said a new minerals and mining policy had been developed to help address some of its challenges. Local content Lauding the commission for adopting a local content approach to constructing the building, Mr Amissah-Arthur called on other institutions to emulate the commission�s example in its adoption of innovative and creative local expertise in the construction of the complex. He was particularly pleased to note that the new office complex was designed to conserve energy with the addition of biomass and solar systems. The project was constructed from the commission�s internally generated funds.