Kenya says Canada miner must hike land payout
Date: 27-May-03
Country: KENYA
"We have told Tiomin that even before we give them a mining lease they must seriously consider enhancing the compensation for land that they will acquire from Kenyan farmers in Kwale," Environment Minister Newton Kulundu told a news conference.
"Tiomin had offered to get this land at 9,000 shillings ($124 per acre). That is hopelessly inadequate. We are now asking Tiomin to raise that compensation rate from 9,000 to 80,000 per acre."
The firm has sought to mine at Kwale in the Indian Ocean Coast province since 1995 but the project has been delayed because of strong opposition from environmentalists and a court case by residents to demand higher compensation for their land.
Environmentalists argue the project would expose residents to considerable radiation and damage forest and marine life, but Tiomin officials have said the concerns are exaggerated.
FACT FINDING
Tiomin said the government had not yet made contact with them concerning the new requirement.
"It is quite difficult to comment on these things without having accurate information in front of me," said Colin Forbes, a manager with Tiomin.
Tiomin said in January Kenya had approved a mining lease and said it would become official when published in the government gazette, expected on April 24. But the notice never appeared.
Tiomin's mine would produce concentrates of ilmenite and rutile, both sources of titanium dioxide used in making pigments and zircon, used in a number of applications from ceramic glazing to electronics.
The government early this year sent a fact finding team to a titanium mine in South Africa to study the activity's effect on the environment. The team's report due next week will chart the way forward for titanium mining, the minister said.
"We are taking a bit long in arriving at a decision, but the team that went to South Africa is in the process of compiling a report that will show us the best way forward. I don't want to pre-empt what they are going to say," Kulundu said.
Kulundu also said the government wanted the ore processed in Kenya and not exported raw as had been envisaged by Tiomin.
"There are other companies that have expressed an interest in coming to process that material locally...we don't want to export raw materials," Kulundu said.
Under the existing Tiomin proposal the government had expected to earn 500 million shillings annually in royalties and taxes and hoped the mining project will create 1,000 jobs.