KABUL (SW): A number of Afghan and international civil society organisations on Monday called on President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to implement transparency reforms and other protections before granting new mining contracts – amid pressure from the US government to give deals to American companies.
A coalition of 20 CSOs wrote to President Ghani asking for the public commitment because of growing concerns over corruption and conflict around mining, the slow pace of reforms, and fears the Trump administration is looking to Afghanistan’s natural resources to help fund the conflict.
Sayed Ikram Afzali, Executive Director of Integrity Watch Afghanistan, said: “We fully support the development of the mining sector, but we are deeply alarmed at the possibility that American companies will be given preferential access to Afghan resources at the expense of the Afghan people, in a way that ignores obvious risks of conflict and corruption – and ultimately does more harm than good to both countries.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has discarded the concerns. He said the government is awarding mining contracts after careful evaluation in line with its strategic policy. He said all crucial decisions in this regard are made at the High Economic Council and the cabinet of ministers.
The CSOs also expressed fears that contacts may be given out in areas which are deeply insecure – either saddling governments with massive security costs, or leading to the failure of the project.
Trump has argued for taking the oil in Iraq, and there has been alarming talk from people with links to him like Eric Prince of Blackwater about taking Afghan resources too, the IW noted. That may just be talk, but the Afghan people deserve clear reassurances, it stressed.
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