|
|
Sierra Leone: NMJD Questions Ownership of Salone Diamonds
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Concord Times (Freetown)
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 14 May 2008
Ibrahim Tarawallie
Executive director of network movement for justice and development (NMJD) Tuesday said ownership of diamonds and their products in the country was still questionable.
Speaking at the launch of a document on 'Standards and Guidelines for Sierra Leone's artisanal diamond mining sector' organised by NMJD and Diamond Development Initiative and Partnership Africa-Canada, Abu Augustine Brima said it was not clear whether Sierra Leone is the owner of its diamonds.
"If we were the owner of the diamonds in the country, why is it that our people suffer in the mining areas?" he queried, adding that, "the diamond industry is not only for Sierra Leone." He observed that there was lack of priority plans in the mining areas across the country suggesting further that the document calls for a radical approach on the issue at stake.
"We will challenge the government to take the issue very serious and review the laws on mining. The document also calls for a radical approach on other alternatives to address mining issues," he said.
Chairperson of the ceremony, kadie Jumu said the issue of mining was crucial to the development of the country, adding that may people depend on mining.
She said mining areas in the country are less developed and less privileged and that it was rucial that something be done to address the problem.
Deputy Minister of lands, housing, country planning and the environment Daniel Gaima said the mining sector requires land for their operations.
"In order to generate economic activity, the utilisation of land, capital and labour must be done effectively and in unison," he said.
Formally commissioning the document deputy minister of mines and mineral resources Abdul Ignosi Koroma said his government recognises the tension and conflicts created between artisanal and large-scale miners.
He said his ministry was considering various policy options that they expect would result in new regulations for artisanal mining and precious mineral trading.
"With all our mineral wealth, why are there so few benefits for our people. These are key issues and urgent priorities of my ministry," he said.
However, President Ernest Bai Koroma had told British news agency, Reuters in March that Sierra Leone would complete a review of all mining contracts within the next three months.
The effort, he said, was to resolve disputes over licences awarded under the previous government and disclosed that he had called in experts from the World Bank to conduct the study, which would affect all foreign and local miners operating in the country.
The news agency estimated that mining accounts for 90 per cent of the country's exports but the industry is a shadow of its former self after its commercial mines were stripped during a 1991-2002 civil war.
"We inherited a situation in which two licences were given for exploration or mining in one location. We have at least three or four such situations," Koroma explained.
He added: "We only will say that everybody will be given a fair trial. At the end of the process they themselves will be a lot more comfortable to proceed." Meanwhile, the review would affect companies including bauxite miner Argyll Resources, and iron ore miners the London Mining Company and the Sierra Leone Development Company.
Koroma said the disputed contracts, along with broader worries over corruption which have long cramped the country's business image, had made it harder to attract investors to the mining sector, still struggling to recover from the war.
The two biggest direct investors in Sierra Leone are mining companies - UK-listed Titanium Resources Group, which mines rutile and bauxite, and Koidu Holdings SA, a kimberlite diamond operation owned by Israeli diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz.
|
Other mining firms operating in the country include Cluff Gold and exploration company West African Diamonds, both listed in London.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Concord Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
