AFRICA/DR CONGO - First positive impact of the report submitted by Catholic organizations on the mine in Kibali

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – We have the first positive impact of the publication, in late August, on the report "Giant Kibali mine; remove impurities because gold is pure (Géant Minier Kibali : ôter les impuretés pour que l’or soit pur), drawn up by the Episcopal Commission for Mineral Resources (CERN) of the Democratic Republic of Congo, by the Natural Resources Observatory of the Diocese of Isiro-Niangara and Pax (joint body of Pax Christi Netherlands and Peace Council of Churches Dutch), on the exploitation of the mining concession of Kibali Gold, in the Eastern Province of the DRC.
According to CERN after the publication of the report, KibaliGold started to provide more information on its activities to the local population, through weekly radio broadcasts.
The lack of information on the activities of the mining lease is one of the first points highlighted in the report.
The mine has had in fact an impact on the lives of local people since September 2013, when the company started its activities, causing the relocation of 14 villages, consisting of 4,216 houses and 16,277 people.
According to the report, the population managed to take advantage of some business benefits regarding the exploitation of mining lease (new houses with electricity, better roads, access to health services, etc ...) but there were several incidents with artisanal miners (also with violations of human rights) that have been in competition with the new company.
Faced with the expectations of the population (some of whom, according to the report, excessive) for the creation of new jobs, dialogue between the authorities, the managers of the mine and civil society is requested in order to find satisfactory solutions for all. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 06/10/2015)

Share:

human rights

---

---