Afghanistan Invites New Iron Mine Bids Over Transparency Issues
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan said it will start a new bidding process for one of the world’s richest iron ore deposits to “improve transparency” as it faces international pressure to crack down on corruption.
“Some evidence shows that the bidding process for the Hajigak iron ore deposit was not transparent,” Finance Ministry spokesman Aziz Shams said. Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal, who retained his job last month when President Hamid Karzai announced a new cabinet, wants to invite new bids, Shams said in a phone interview on Jan. 30.
Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani expects to formally cancel bids this week for the 1.8 billion-ton deposit at Hajigak, his deputy, Abdul Qudus Hamidi, said in an interview. Shahrani made the decision after taking office last month to replace a man accused of taking a bribe of at least $20 million for a previous mining license.
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For Afghanistan, mining jobs and revenue will be central to efforts to reduce the unemployment and despondency that help fuel the Taliban insurgency. While the United Nations 2009 Human Development Report ranked Afghans’ living standards as the world’s second-most impoverished, the country’s mineral resources are worth $1 trillion, Karzai told journalists on Jan. 31, citing an almost-finished U.S. Geological Survey report.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-02/afghanistan-to-scrap-iron-mine-bids-over-transparency-issues.html
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