Yet contracts alone won’t provide the public sufficient information to judge deals the government has struck. For major concessions, important details may be excluded from the contract document. In the case of the 2011 Qara-Zaghan gold concession, for example, the published contract guaranteed a healthy royalty rate while leaving out provisions addressing the operation’s environmental and social impacts.
Especially in a country as violence-prone as Afghanistan, disputes over damaged cropland and livelihoods can lead to unrest that disrupts mining operations and discourages investors. The government needs to give its people all the information they need to prevent such outcomes.
No comments:
Post a Comment