Chinese-owned companies, under investigation for irregularities in their gold mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) east, hope to “bounce back” after a suspension that started in August, a consultant for one of the firms said.
Ordering the halt, South Kivu Governor Theo Ngwabidje Kasi said that he was determined to “restore order” in Mwenga territory, about 100km southwest of the provincial capital, Bukavu.
The move was in “the interests of the local population and the environment,” Kasi said, accusing the half-dozen Chinese-financed companies of “multiple abuses.”
The opacity of the exploitation and sale of Congolese gold has long been a source of concern, with UN experts last year noting “volumes of smuggled gold significantly higher than those marketed legally.”
Gold, one of the vast Central African country’s abundant mineral resources, is also used to finance armed groups and fuel the conflicts that have plagued its eastern provinces for more than a generation.
The fate of the Chinese-owned companies is in the hands of the federal government in Kinshasa, following a parliamentary investigation.
“We are confident — we will bounce back and we even want to go further: We will be a pilot project in the traceability” of gold, said Rudy Cornet, consultant for one of the companies, Oriental Resources Congo.
“Some operators are real bandits, but we must not put everyone in the same basket,” Cornet said, disputing any alleged contraventions of the mining code by his client.
Sources in Bukavu said that the firms have complied with the suspension — their machines are at a standstill — while busily preparing their legal objections.
“The companies have gone to Kinshasa. We have lodged our defense and we are waiting,” said Eric Kitoga, a Congolese lawyer representing the interests of Congo Blueant Minerals (CBM).
He denied a slew of accusations against CBM, including that its Chinese employees have worked on tourist visas, that it has not paid taxes and that it has not compensated farmers for the use of their fields.
The gold diggers have said that they provide valuable services, such as maintaining the road leading to Mwenga, but residents are up in arms.
“They have devastated everything: the palm groves, the cassava and rice fields, the fish ponds,” said Laban Kyalangalilwa, president of the Banyindu community in the chiefdom of Luindi.
Even if “arrangements” end up being made, mining firms must first repair “what they have caused,” by compensating farmers who have lost their livelihoods, he added.
“We are going to file a complaint against these companies, on behalf of our citizens, of the victims,” said Christian Wanduma, legal adviser to the neighboring chiefdom of Wamuzimu.
“The parliamentary mission took note of the mafias organized in Mwenga. We await its conclusions,” he added, predicting a communal “uprising” if the government glosses over the alleged misdeeds of the targeted companies.
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