Opinion

Letter

Re: Conflict Minerals: the New Blood Diamonds

Charles Young
June 19, 2010

Re: Conflict Minerals: the New Blood Diamonds

Charles Young
Government Mining Cadastre Systems Manager

I ... believe that the senators don’t know the real situation on the ground.

I have the highest regard for Senators Brownback, Feingold, Durbin, Specter and Brown for promoting the Congo Conflict Minerals Act. I do however believe that the senators don’t know the real situation on the ground and their well-intended legislation will be ineffective without this knowledge.

The actual situation is that the Cadastre Minier (CAMI), who manages and monitors mineral licenses, is financially handicapped. Its operating expenses have drastically been reduced resulting in delays in paying personnel and effectively managing the legally defined obligations of titleholders. CAMI also operates the mining cadastre system that is vital in strengthening the security of tenure and ultimately improving the attractiveness of the DRC for investment.

The current situation is tenuous and will threaten the mining industries stability, which in turn will only have a negative impact on controlling conflict minerals.




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