Date: 7/8/2001 23:17:25 -0000 From: "Andrew Keili" <mes@sierratel.sl> To: "p.palmer" <philippalmer@philippalmer.homechoice.co.uk>, <leonenet@lists.umbc.edu> Subject: Re: Chiefdoms to Receive Diamond Money

This community development fund was recently introduced after the certification scheme. The 3% tax levied on all official diamond exports is split up as follows: GGDO-0.75%, Mines Monitoring-0.25%, special training-0.75%, Independent valuer-0.5% and Community Development-0.75%. Although the community development fund is a step in the right direction, the money amounting to some$2000 per chiefdom is too small and may not suffice for any meaningful development project. There is also the problem of who administers the money and how well it is done. There have always been problems of disbursing money paid for surface rents by mining companies. Assuming a best case scenario that exports were to rise to $200 million annually in future, the community development fund will amount to some $1.5 million annually and will average some $20,000 per chiefdom for each of the 80 or so diamondiferous chiefdoms.As very little beneficiation goes to the local populace, this will have to be weighed against the environmental damage and other social problems created by diamiond mining. Rehabilitation fees of Le100,000 per acre per year for an artisanal  mining licence holder and Le200,000 per acre per year for a small scale mining licence holder are paid to the Mineral Resources Ministry. These fees are being kept by government and according to Mines Ministry officials will be subsequently used for rehabilitation. It is difficult to see at this stage how the government will effect the rehabilitation. The amount of money ranging between $50 and $100 per acre per year may in fact be too small to do any meaningful rehabilitation. There needs to be a continuing debate on beneficiation for Sierra Leoneans from diamond mining as a lot of issues remain unresolved. Andrew Keili