Distributed by Parliamentary Monitoring Trust Zimbabwe

Transcription

1 Distributed by Parliamentary Monitoring Trust Zimbabwe FIFTH SESSION SEVENTH PARLIAMENT FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON MINES AND ENERGY ON ON DIAMOND MINING (with special reference to Marange Diamond Fields) Presented to Parliament June 2013 (S.C.4, 2012)

2 O RD E R E D: In Terms of Standing O rder No. 159 a) At the commencement of every session, there shall be as many committees Rules to be designated according to government portfolios as the Standing and Orders Committee may deem fit. b) It shall be the function of such committees to examine expenditure administration and policy of government departments and other matters falling under their jurisdictions as Parliament may, by resolution determine. c) The members of such committees shall be appointed by the Standing Rules and Orders Committee, from one or both Houses of Parliament, and such appointments shall take into account the expressed interests or expertise of the Members and Senators and the political and gender composition of Parliament. d) Each Select Committee shall be known by the portfolio determined for it by the Standing Rules and Orders Committee. Terms of reference of Portfolio Committees Standing O rder No. 160 shall: a) Consider and deal with all bills and statutory instruments or other matters which are referred to it by or under a resolution of the House or by the Speaker; b) Consider or deal with an appropriation or money bill or any aspect of appropriation or money bill referred to it by these Standing Orders or by under resolution of this House; and c) Monitor, investigate, enquire into and make recommendations relating to any aspect of the legislative programme, budget, policy or any other matter it may consider relevant to the government department falling within the category of affairs assigned to it, and may for that purpose consult and liaise with such department; and d) Consider or deal with all international treaties, conventions and agreements relevant to it, which are from time to time negotiated, entered into or agreed upon.

3 On Tuesday, 30 th October 2013, the Speaker announced that the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders nominated the following members to serve on the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy 22. Hon. Haritatos Peter Hon. C hindori-c hininga E. to be Chairperson

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 5.5 Government should consider establishing a one-stop mineral administration systems with sufficient capacity to deliver on their critical mandate.

25 5.6 Because of the discrepancies that exists between the amount that companies pay to government and what government report to have receive, companies are encouraged to publish what they pay to government and government is equally encouraged to publish what it received from companies. It is therefore important for government to operationalise a domesticated Zimbabwe Mining Transparency Initiative (ZMTI). i. The Executive should clearly layout the selection criteria for joint venture partners in the mining sector. Equally, contract negotiation with venture partners must be led by a legitimate institution of the state. The principle of complete public transparency must operate prior to the awarding of contracts and the contracts themselves must be made public. ii. Government must develop the necessary human capacity to negotiate contracts effectively. Contract negotiation must be all inclusive 9 and cover areas such as environmental mitigation and protection measures, land use and rights, displacement and resettlement of local communities and their rights, mining closure, corporate social responsibility, disaster management and water use. 9

26 iii. Negotiations can only start after due diligence studies have been conducted to ascertain whether the company has the technical and financial capability to actually mine to avoid selecting companies with no mining experience..

27

28

29