The Daily Mail reports on a new Bench Marks Foundation (BMF) report that says some mining companies on the Copperbelt are operating with lower standards compared to their parent companies in developed countries.
The Bench Marks Foundation is an independent organisation monitoring corporate performance in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
And Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries including Zambia have been urged to unify mining legislation to avoid some countries becoming pollution havens for unscrupulous mining corporations.
A BMF research report on corporate social responsibility in the Zambian mining industry said there were a number of companies that operated with much lower standards in terms of health, safety and environmental protection than their parent companies were doing in more developed countries.
The report urged companies to apply the same standards of health, safety, pollution prevention as elsewhere in the world.
And the report said that there were serious concerns about the legislative environments within which mining corporations operate throughout SADC region.
The report said in the divide and rule rush for mineral investments some African countries could fall pray to abuse and
exploitation.
It further suggested that SADC Governments must develop the capacity to have control of mineral resources in processing, manufacturing and marketing the minerals that were currently being undertaken beyond national borders.
The report however said Zambia’s mining legislative framework was well structured, comprehensive and thorough, but lacked implementation due to inadequate manpower to enforce various pieces of legislation and to realise the objectives of various departments.
According to BMF, the implementation and monitoring of policies were problematic as a result, serious environmental and social problems existed through out the country.
The report indicated health, safety and labour issues as major threats to the mining environment and presented huge challenges to the industry.
“For the industry to be successful in the long term, it needs to obtain the support of the communities in which it operates,” the report read in part.
The report indicated that sound relationships and cooperation between the different stakeholders including mining companies, civil society, Government and communities were essential for the sustainability of the mining sector in Zambia.
The research on corporate social responsibility and the extractive industry in southern Africa is a research project of the BMF in collaboration with the Peace, Principles and Participation Network covering Zambia, Angola, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa.
There is more on the foundation here: http://www.bench-marks.org.za/
3 comments:
Keith Harmon Snow is writing a lot of very interesting articles that give a background to the mining industry in the DRC, which has a direct impact on the politics and economies of Zambia, Zimbabwe and the entire region.
AllThingsPass Keith Harmon Snow's website.
On Dan Gertler, who is behind RP Capital Cayman Islands and their 'evalutation' for the takeover of ZAMTEL:
Gertler’s Bling Bang Torah Gang
Israel and the Ongoing Holocaust in Congo (Part 1)
by Keith Harmon Snow / February 9th, 2008
I never understood why Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Russ Feingold would caucus with known segregationists and supporters of apartheid like Bill Frist (Republican from Tennessee) and Jesse Helms, to create the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, which was intended to destroy the Zimbabwean currency. I think the link is diamonds, and Maurice Tempelsman's support for the Democratic Party on the one hand, and President Mugabe's military support through SADC, of the 'rogue' but legitimate government of Laurent Kabila, against the US and UK backed Tutsi 'rebels' in the Eastern DRC (formerly under US operative Paul Kagame's 'mini-me', Laurent Nkunda).
Tempelsman, Gertler (a supporter of the Republicans), Blattner, Forrest, etc. all have multi-billion dollar concessions in diamonds and timber, which would disappear if there was ever a nationlist government in Kinshasa.
PS, the whole Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 is online here: GOVTRACK and the full text is here.
PPS, specifically sections 4.C named Multilateral Financing Restriction and Section 3 named Definitions are relevant to the nature and extent of sanctions imposed by the United states Bush Administration against Zimbabwe.
I am not a specialist in international law, but isn't it illegal for one country to use it's presence on international organisations (IMF, World Bank, African Development Bank, etc.) to institute sanctions against a third country, outside of the perview of the United Nations?
I cite section 4.c, which almost seems like it was slipped into the bill surrepticiously:
(c) MULTILATERAL FINANCING RESTRICTION- Until the President makes the certification described in subsection (d), and except as may be required to meet basic human needs or for good governance, the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director to each international financial institution to oppose and vote against--
(1) any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe; or
(2) any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution.
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