The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy
earned US$1.52 million in non-tax revenues in 2011, a figure that an opposition
lawmaker said was far lower than the actual revenues brought in on mining
licences.
The
intake was more than 15 per cent higher than in 2010, and included registration
and application fees for new mining resource, land rental and business research
licenses, as well as transfer and extension fees for existing licences,
according to a report from MIME.
Minister
Suy Sem attributed the increase to improvements in the management of mine
exploitation and the increased monitoring of concessionary land, which proved
effective in preventing companies from extracting and selling minerals under
the pretext of research.
“The
state revenue collected from the mine resource sector has increased continually
as compared to previous years,” he said at the release of MIME’s report on
Monday.
In
2011, a total of 24 companies were licensed to conduct research and exploration
works on potential mines.
The
general director of the General Department of Mine Resources at MIME, Sok Leng,
stated in his address on Monday that so far approximately 70 companies from
Australia, China, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as some firms from the Mining
Exploitation League, have received exploration licences.
“Currently,
the companies have been studying, researching and exploring the mines with
their own techniques and practices, but have little success at the moment.”
Son
Chhay, a lawmaker from the Sam Rainsy Party, however, said the declared revenue
was far lower than the actual revenue, and that the ministry’s revenue intake
was opaque.
Many of
the licences, he said, were “offered to their [ministry official’s] relatives
or those bribing the ministry”.
According
to Son Chhay, up to 180 companies have been issued licences to exploit gold and
uranium, among other metals, but some have no experience in exploration works
at all and cause damage to the environment.
Some
even obtained licenses to sublet to other firms in under table deals, he said.
MIME
also announced that it has suspended 29 mining licenses and terminated
agreements with 12 others due to inadequate experience or invalid exploration
techniques.
Richard
Stanger, president of the Cambodian Association for Mining and Exploration
Companies, said there were “companies sitting on licences without exploring and
spending on the land”.
MIME’s
strong stance on the issue was good for the mining industry because it would
allow other firms to make better use of the land, he said.
Sieam
Bunthy and Jeremiah Lim
The
Phnom Penh Post
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