Graft claims over mining revenue
Political activists and watchdog organisations say Cambodia’s US$13 million revenue from the mining sector over the last five years is exceedingly low and that the government must be more transparent. The claims come after the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy (MIME) released its figures on the mining sector this week. MIME’s data showed that between July 2008 and July 2012, the ministry collected $13,322,288 in revenue from mining activities. Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), said mine concessions for both local and foreign mine companies were not transparent. He said there were many types of mines on Cambodian land but that corruption meant income was low. … Minister of MIME Suy Sem said the revenue came from taxes composed of mining licenses, renting licenses, exploration licences, and rock, sand, precious stones and finders fees. … Based on the data from MIME, the government had licensed more than 60 companies, providing more than 160 exploration licenses and more than 20 companies with oil and gas licenses. The Cambodian government has granted three mining licenses for a total investment of $31.3 million in 2011, according to data from Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC)…. The third is a joint-venture between Cambodia and Vietnam. Phu Yang invested $800,000 to exploit metal ore. However, none of the locations of these projects were revealed in the provided data. The breakdown in tax revenue shows that in 2008, Cambodia received $2,600,000; in 2009, $3,600,000; in 2010, $2,900,000; in 2011, $2,800,000 and by July 2012 $1,200,000.
