|
Residents of Shekisso Woreda, where MIDROC Gold is
mining used to mine, protested in a demonstration on
Friday, December 4, 2009. The demonstration arose
due to the company's move from Lega Dembi to the
Sakaro site to open another mine accusing that it
had not constructed roads, schools, bridges and
clinics for the community during its 12-year
operation in the area. This was compounded by
another demonstration in Addis Abeba organised by
students of Addis Abeba University on Monday,
December 7, 2009, who submitted a similar complaint
to the office of the Oromo People's Democratic
Organisation (OPDO), a member of the ruling
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
The residents said that MIDROC Gold must oblige
because it is one of the biggest investors in the
country. It has also helped other communities where
it had no business interests. Other investors in the
area have already contributed to infrastructure
development in the area.
The Guji Zone Administration Office would deal with
the matter seriously, Getenet Assefa, head of the
office said, adding his own complaint that MIDROC
Gold's communication with the zonal office was poor.
The university students also raised concerns about
2,000 farmers who, according to a fourth-year law
student, were supposed to be paid compensation when
they were displaced to make room for the Lega Dembi
mining site.
No comment was available from the Addis Abeba office
of the OPDO, whose experts were said to have gone to
the site to look into the matter.
MIDROC Gold denied
knowledge of the two demonstrations. But Tafesse
Sahelle, senior director of communications and
public relations at MIDROC Gold, told Fortune
that his company had entered into no commitment to
fulfill public infrastructure needs.
Tafesse said that
MIDROC Gold, under its own initiative, had provided
clean water, constructed a kindergarten, donated
computers to the local preparatory school, and even
granted 40,000 Br for the ceremony of the handing
over of power in the Abba Gadaa System in the Guji
Zone, where the two mines are located. He added that
MIDROC had provided the furniture for the Shakisso
Woreda Administration Office. But he declined to
comment on the issue of farmers that the students
said still needed compensation.
"I do not have any tangible information that MIDROC
Gold has in anyway contributed to infrastructure
development in the area. Even more than half of its
employees are recruited from Addis Abeba, instead of
from here where its investment is," Getenet said.
MIDRCO Gold employs
1,400 people based in Addis Abeba and at the mines,
Tafesse said.
MIDROC Gold had been
mining from the Lega Dembi gold belt since 1998,
extracting 34,000kg of gold from which it earned 466
million dollars. It paid 172 million dollars to the
federal privatisation agency for the mining rights
in the area. On November 24, 2009, it signed a
contract with the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME)
for the extraction of 20,483kg of gold from nearby
Sakaro, three kilometres from Lega Dembi.
The law student said that the students decided to
take the case to a higher level because it would
serve not only the interests of the Guji Zone
residents but also serve as an example for
investments that could take place in other areas of
the country.
An official of the Ministry of Mines and Energy said
that issues such as those raised by the residents of
Guji were not included in the licences given to
investors. He said, however, that the questions
raised by the residents may have some legitimacy,
although it was not up to his ministry to address
those questions.
MIDROC Gold confirmed
the Sakaro gold reserve in a four-year exploration
on a 9.71 square kilometers area will 124 boreholes.
The company projects a revenue of 564 million
dollars from the new mine, and will pay 130 million
dollars to the government in royalties and tax. |
