Mining - Haiti Observer Blog

Civil society watch groups are not happy with the modifications recommended by Martelly administration on the Mining Acts. The constitution mandates Statutes related to the gold and other mineral exploitation should be passed by the act of a parliament, never by the decree of a caretaker President.

Camille Chalmers, the executive secretary of the PAPDA (Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development) has reminded the Bureau of Mines and Energy (BME) that the present moratorium on the issue of mines in the country took shape through a resolution passed by the Senate of the Republic in 2013. He has further said that the content of the decree is very worrying because it was prepared without consulting any concerned entity or civil society organization and it would jeopardize parliament's power of ratification. According to Chalmers, the proposed decree is the brain-work of the World Bank, the Haitian government and some players from the Haitian private sector. It would "poison the already degraded environment of the country.

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Haiti's gold, silver, and copper resources exploitation challenges.

International agency, Oxfam, has released a report concerning development of Haiti's gold, silver, and copper lodes in northern Haiti. The thrust of the report states ". . . governance and regulatory challenges . . ." must be met prior to developing the precious metals. According to the report, doubts exist Haiti can manage its mining sector responsibly and successfully.

The windfall from mining revenues have the possibility to help Haiti build its infrastructure, but unless the Haitian government takes measures to guarantee revenues are protected, and will benefit communities, corruption will wipe out whatever good was intended for poverty-stricken Haiti.

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This can't be good for the potential candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton for the presidency of the United States.

According to breitbart.com, the brother of former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is a member of the board for a mining company that in 2012 was awarded a gold exploitation permit from the Haitian government. These permits that have not been to anyone for 50 years were given to only two companies.

According to the website, this is just the beginning of many revelations that are yet to come in a book by New York Times bestselling author Peter Schweize. The book that will be out soon is titled: "Clinton Cash" will describe the role of Foreign Government and the Clinton foundation in contributing to over $100 million that Bill and Hillary Clinton have in personal wealth.

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To help Haiti rebuild its infrastructure, the World Bank (WB) is working with the government of Haiti (GOH) to draft a proposal to modernize its mining law. Haiti's mining industry is a well-kept secret. Foreign mining companies have been quietly doing exploratory drilling in northern ranges close to the Dominican Republic border, having invested $30-plus million dollars. What they have uncovered is a mother lode of copper, silver, and gold ore, estimated at $20 billion.

For Haiti to benefit from this potential windfall, royalty rates need to be raised from two percent per ounce to at least nine to 12 percent. It's going to be a tough sell for WB and GOH to persuade Parliament for two reasons. First, Parliament cannot hold sessions unless all 30 senators are present. Some senators are absent because they are campaigning for re-election, although elections have yet to be announced. Second, the opposition party, holding a majority of seats, is against cooperating with the current administration.

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On Sunday February 17, 2013 while navigating a corner on a road in the Dominican Republic, Dr. Daniel Mathurin suffered injuries from a car crash that would later claim his life. In the wake of this tragic loss of one of Haiti's most venerated scientists, his achievements in research and geophysics, including his speculations on the wealth of tangible and intangible resources to be found in Haiti, is cast back into the forefront of public awareness.

Extensive work he carried out with the wife he has succeeded, shows that Haiti is rich with hydrocarbons. Together, they had also discovered 20 oil sites in the country, five of which they described as being of great importance in the realms of oil speculation and politics. It is research that has led some to question whether or not the 2010 earthquake which all but leveled Haiti and left over 300,000 dead was not caused by clandestine drilling by foreign governments or entities.

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