Leading civic group Participacion Ciudadana (PC) is demanding detailed and transparent follow up on shipments of gold, silver, dore and other exported metals. In a statement released today, Tuesday 19 March, PC says that the exported goods must be verified to eradicate accounting procedures that promote a lack of transparency and complicity between the company and government officials who it says act at the service of private interests and against the national common interest. PC says that in view of the importance of foreign investment, it is essential to make the point that the Barrick Gold case should be treated as a unique and sui-generis situation, given the country’s social, political and economic context, the corruption levels and the open door practices of the Dominican state.
“In a country like the Dominican Republic, with an abundance of non-renewable natural resources, but with a weak state, where it is easy to co-opt control organizations, with a marked high index of perceived corruption, it is an obligation to promote the mobilization of citizens to ensure the monitoring of this wealth for exploitation and for the revenues to be used to benefit the most needy in the country,” states the organization.
PC demands policies of absolute transparency and accountability in the relationship between the government and the mining company, on the revenue received by the authorities, and especially on the payments that the company makes to the Dominican government.
It calls on the National Congress to seek the widespread participation of all sectors of Dominican society in the process of reviewing the contract signed with Barrick Gold.
Participacion Ciudadana’s general coordinator Roberto Alvarez condemned the DGA for failing to verify previous Barrick exports. “I am surprised that the DGA is only making this kind of verification after 19 or 20 shipments,” he stated.
Alvarez said that both the company and the Dominican authorities have much to clear up, adding that it “is strange” that they allowed the shipment to clear before completing the report that the DGA had ordered.” The verification of the shipment’s contents was yet to be revealed.
“If we are to be taken seriously as a country or aspire to be, this cannot happen if we have this kind of ambiguous situation,” he stated.
The government delayed a Barrick Pueblo Viejo metals export through Las Americas International Airport on Wednesday, 13 March. It then penalized the company by imposing a fine of US$23 million for declaring the United States as the source of the metals in the Single Customs Declaration, but nevertheless authorized the export despite the fine not having been paid, contrary to usual Customs practices.