FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): All mines in northeastern Badakhshan province areillegally extracted by armed men and militants as the government collectedno revenue this solar year link> frommining in the province.
Local officials say revenue of the provincial Mines Department was zerothis year and all income from the natural resources went to pockets ofpowerful figures and the Taliban link>.
They warn the Mines Department would be shut if the government did not takeaction to prevent the illegal mining.
Mohammad Haidar, financial and administrative manager at Badakhshan MinesDepartment, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “We shared our plans about miningcontracts with the private sector section of the Ministry of Mines andPetroleum this year, but no action has so far been taken on our plans.”
He said mines revenue in Badakhshan was zero because of suspension ofcontracts and no endorsement of new contracts this year.
He added the lapis lazuli mine in Karan wa Menjan district of Badakhshanwas also being extracted by illegal armed men who trafficked it throughcentral Panjsher province.
“In 1394 solar year, we collected around six million afghanis in revenue,in 1395 the amount was about five million afghanis, but we have zerorevenue this year due to suspension of contracts with the private sectoruntil second order,” he said.
Haidar said around 10 tons of lapis lazuli belonging to traders remainedlocked in Juram, Baharak and Faizabad districts following a presidentialorder. He said the traders suffered huge losses as a result of the lapislazuli lock. These traders are still not allowed to take the stone tomarket for sale, he added.
Mohammad Hanif, a trader of lapis lazuli stone in Badakhshan, said: “Ipurchased one tone of lapis lazuli three years ago, but a presidentialdelegation locked it in a depot, I had invested all my money in that.”
He said he owed money to local people and suffered a lot of losses due tothe locking of his investment. “I do not know where to go and to whom Ishould complain.”
A provincial council member, Abdullah Naji Nazari, told Pajhwok that twomajor lapis lazuli and gold mines were under control of militants andpowerful figures and they were illegally extracting the riches. He saidmilitants took their share from the income.
A number of small mines that contain precious and semi-precious stones areextracted by local people and powerful figures and then trafficked toPakistan link> and Dubai, he added.
Nazari said local people who were not professionals worked for months inthe mines but they rarely found anything. “If they find something, theysell it at low prices.”
The government and local administration have no concern about protection ofmines in Badakhshan, he complained.
He suggested the mines department should sign contracts with the privatesector for extraction of mines so that the government could earn revenue.
“We have so many mines, if their revenue is legally collected, it wouldhelp develop Badakhshan province,” he said.
According to Eng. Sanaullah, general manager of geo-science in Badakhshanmines department, 38 mines, including precious stones and metals, exist inthe province. He cited primary surveys done by professional personnel ofthe department.
He said these mines included gold, lapis lazuli, tourmaline, ruby,aquamarine, coal, mica, iron, emerald, sulfur, copper oxide, marble,phosphate, serpentine and zinc which are currently extracted by militantsor powerful figures.
However, Mines and Petroleum Ministry spokesman, Abdul Qadir Mutfa, saidthat the ministry had developed a new roadmap for accountability,transparency and utilization of natural resources.
He said one important point in the roadmap was management of contracts anddiscussion of the contracts in the Economy Council and the PresidentialPalace for more accuracy.
“We have two types of contracts, small, vocal and big contracts, in smallcontracts, suggestions are sent from the mines and petroleum ministry tothe Economic Council, but there is still no final decision in this regardas to when to start small contracts,” he said.
Mutfa said the ministry was trying to sign contracts as soon as possiblebecause the government’s revenue source was mines.
Calling illegal extraction of mines a major challenge, he said that theMinistry of Mines and Petroleum used to share its reports of minesmonitoring with security organs and security forces had devised specialmeasures for protection of natural resources.
But he acknowledged monitoring, prevention of allegation extractions andtrafficking was difficult in areas under militants’ control.
Badakhshan is a mountainous province and is rich in natural resources,particularly gold, ruby and lapis lazuli. The province shares border withChina, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
Local officials believe legal extraction of mines would contribute to highrevenue collection besides creating job opportunities for thousands ofpeople.