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by Haiti Grassroots Watch and Inter Press Service
 Outraged
that they have not been consulted, this week Haitian senators
called for a moratorium on all activities connected with
recently granted gold and copper mining permits.
In a resolution approved by
15 of 16 senators present, the lawmakers also demanded the
establishment of a commission to review all of the current
mining contracts and “a national debate on the country’s mineral
resources.”
The resolution – voted Feb. 20
in reaction to three new gold and copper mining permits issued
late last year by the government – decried “the genocide that
accompanied the pillage of our mineral resources in the 15th
century”, “the waste of resources… since the Jan. 12, 2010
earthquake,” the foreign mining experiences of the 20th century
which caused “trauma,” and “the incapacity of our country to
calmly undertake negotiations related to its mineral resources
in a context of political disequilibrium.”
News of the permits first
caused an uproar in January. Journalists, experts, and
politicians speculated on what Haiti had lost or would gain, and
accused the state mining agency (the Bureau des Mines et d’Energie – BME) of granting “illegal” contracts.
 Parliamentary
protest
The senators say that the three new permits
violate the Haitian Constitution because they are based on 1997
conventions that were never approved by the parliament.
The Constitution says that the
parliament must “approve or reject international treaties and
conventions” (Art. 98-3). According to attorney Mario Joseph,
director of the Office of International Lawyers, “The
conventions are illegal, because the parliament did not ratify
them.”
At a special hearing on Jan.
22, senators accused BME director Ludner Remarais of subverting
the law.
“In 20 years the parliament has
never ratified any mining conventions,” Senator Steven Benoit
(West) thundered, while Senator Andris Riché (Grande Anse)
shouted: “We must not accept wacky contracts that seek to bury
the people.”
“I am sorry the Senate was
never contacted,” Remarais responded, tears in his eyes.
However, the conventions are
not “international” because they concern the government and
companies that – at least on paper – are Haitian. The BME’s
former director, Dieuseul Anglade, maintains that the
conventions are not “illegal” because the government decided to
sign and publish them as decrees, i.e. without ratification.
“Decrees have the same
authority as laws,” Anglade told IPS in a telephone interview on
Feb. 6, 2013. “If someone wants to be a demagogue or make
political hay, he can call the conventions ‘illegal,’ but they
are legal.”
New permits not really “new”
The three “new” permits – for mining
deposits in Morne Bossa, Douvray, and “Faille B” in Haiti’s
North and Northeast departments – are not new. They are the
conversion of permits for “exploration” into permits for
“exploitation.”
They were originally granted in
1997 by the René Préval government via two mining conventions
with two Haitian companies – St. Genevieve S.A. and Société
Minière Citadelle S.A. Because they were sold or they changed
their names, today the conventions are held by two small firms,
also ostensibly Haitian: Société Minière Delta and Société
Minière du Nord-Est SA (DOMINE S.A.).
But in both cases, the power
rests overseas, in the hands of foreign companies and
shareholders.
The Société Minière Delta is
the property of VCS Mining, a small U.S. private company
registered in the state of Delaware, infamous for its laws which
permit firms to hide their profits, keep their operations
secret, and pay minimal taxes.
DOMINE S.A. is a subsidiary of
the Canadian mining company Majescor, which says it specializes
in “emerging” regions. Last month, Majescor offered for sale
over $2 million worth of shares for “the DOMINE project.”
Majescor says it controls DOMINE because it controls a company
called SIMACT Alliance Copper-Gold Inc., which in turn controls
the majority of DOMINE shares.
The three mining permits are
the most advanced of the dozens of permits for one-third of
Haiti’s north (about 2,500 square kilometers) handed out in
recent years and will convert into concessions once the
companies start mining.
VCS Mining, the company working
in Morne Bossa, maintains that it has followed Haitian law from
the beginning. Last year, VCS submitted the required
“feasibility study” for the site, which maps out the steps they
will take in order to prepare for mining, and it was finally
accepted by the BME in November, a representative told IPS in a
telephone interview.
The spokesman – who asked not
to be identified by name because his company has decided to keep
a low profile until the resolution of the BME-Senate conflict –
insisted, “We have done the work as required by law. The permits
are legal.”
The VCS representative also
said that his company has invested over $4 million in the Morne
Bossa site so far, and that since gold was first discovered by
UN geologists in the late 1970s, “over 38 million [dollars] has
been spent.”
Now what?
Seeking verification and clarification, IPS
requested an interview with BME director Ludner Remarais. The
interview was three times promised, and then denied. IPS wanted
to confirm what VCS said, to ask for a copy of the feasibility
studies, and also to ask about the illegality of the original
conventions.
IPS also wanted to ask Remarais
about the very low royalties in the two mining conventions. Both
award the Haitian state only 2.5% of the value of the minerals
extracted – a number that is “really low,” according to mining
royalties expert Claire Kumar.
“Anything under 5% is just
really ludicrous for a country like Haiti,” Kumar told IPS in
2012. “You shouldn’t even consider it. For a country with a weak
state, the royalty is the safest place to get your money.”
According to Haitian mining
law, the financial agreements in a convention can be “revised,”
but so far, no government official has mentioned the
possibility.
The other major concerns are
lack of transparency, and the lack of participation from and
benefits to local communities. (See “Morne Bossa Neighbors
Nervous”)
The Feb. 20 Senate resolution
cannot legally block mining activities, but it will undoubtedly
cause the BME and the government to pause, according to Eddy
Laguerre, a lawyer and also a member of the editorial staff at
the Haitian weekly Le Matin.
“When the Senate votes a
resolution, the executive needs to be careful,” Laguerre told
IPS in a telephone interview. “If the resolution is not
respected, the Senate can find ways to punish the executive, and
can even punish it politically by calling for a change in
government.”
Haiti Grassroots Watch is a partnership
of AlterPresse, the Society of the Animation of Social
Communication (SAKS), the Network of Women Community Radio
Broadcasters (REFRAKA), community radio stations from the
Association of Haitian Community Media and students from the
Journalism Laboratory at the State University of Haiti. |
