International rights groups pressed the World Bank on Tuesday to investigate two new contracts signed by Congo state mining giant Gecamines, saying they risked derailing efforts to reform the crippled company, reports the World Bank press review.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is struggling to emerge from years of war and chaos, much of it fuelled by fighting over the control of its natural wealth, which includes timber, diamonds, gold and the copper Gecamines produces in Katanga province.
Three rights groups, including British-based Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), said Gecamines had struck deals with foreign companies which sold off DR Congos resources too cheaply and were in any case illegal, because contracts were awarded without international invitations to tender.
The rights groups pointed to deals with two British Virgin Island-based firms signed despite World Bank-hired consultants warnings of a potential “fire-sale” of DR Congos minerals and calls in 2003 for an immediate halt to negotiations. The groups, which also include Belgium-based organizations Broederlijk Delen and 11.11.11, said independent experts should now examine the legality of other mining contracts signed by DR Congos transitional government.
Peace deals that officially ended DR Congos last conflict – which raged from 1998-2003 and continues to simmer in the east – have encouraged further investment in the huge country. But critics say the plunder of its resources during the war only benefited the elites who controlled the various factions and are now in a transitional government in Kinshasa.
A recent parliamentary investigation found that dozens of government contracts struck during DR Congos wars needed to be renegotiated and that some companies should be closed and leading individuals brought to justice.
The commission concluded that the current transitional government had worsened, rather than controlled, the pillaging. The rights groups said the World Bank should carry out an urgent inquiry into how DR Congos most important mineral reserves had been awarded without an international invitation to tender.
Under current laws in DR Congo , applicable until a new code becomes operative, companies – so far largely Congolese – buy logging permits from the faraway capital, Kinshasa, and uninformed locals are left out of the loop. In the past, the government funneled little of the logging permit revenue to the forest communities. Much of DR Congos wealth was stolen or squandered by its leaders.
The new code, to be enforced by the government and expected to take effect this year, calls for 15 percent of government revenues from logging to be returned to communities adversely affected by the industry.
The World Bank-supported code also requires timber companies to negotiate with locals before they start logging. Loggers oppose the new code, claiming it puts on them a burden that should be shouldered by a corrupt and callous government.
There are other reasons for loggers to protest. The new code gives government officials the power to revoke logging concessions at any time, leaving businesses at their continual mercy. Proponents of the code insist the government will protect poor people and is making amends for years of misuse of Congos wood.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
