Africa-Press – Senegal. Le préfet de Kanel (nord), Cheikh Ahmadou Ndoye, a présidé, jeudi, le lancement officiel d’une plateforme multi-acteurs destinée à prévenir les conflits entre les communautés locales et les entreprises exploitant les gisements de phosphates de Ndendory et Hamady Ounaré, deux communes de ce département.
« Cette plateforme multi-acteurs constitue un cadre de dialogue et de concertation permanent entre les différentes parties impliquées dans l’exploitation minière afin de renforcer les mécanismes de transparence dans le secteur minier », a-t-il dit.
The administrative authority intervened during this launching ceremony which coincided with the restitution of the « elements of observation » on the mechanisms of conflict management and analysis of the externalities linked to the extractive activity in the region of Matam, at the initiative of the NGO 3D, in partnership with USAID Traces.
This program of the United States Agency for International Development aims to promote transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining sectors.
According to the prefect of Kanel, this multi-actor platform is called upon to become a framework for the exchange of up-to-date knowledge on issues affecting the mining sector and the mechanisms of governance in this sector.
It should make it possible « to identify and analyze the generators of tension and to play a role of mediation between the stakeholders », said Cheikh Ahmadou Ndoye.
« The platform will ensure the interface between local authorities and mining companies as well as territorial development partners, and also ensure the harmonization of interventions in line with territorial priorities », explained Mr. Ndoye.
According to him, conflicts in mining areas often result from a lack of mastery of legislative and regulatory texts and failure to take into account the expectations of populations, especially young people, in terms of jobs and benefits.
The program manager of the NGO 3D, Ibrahima Diop, declared that in most cases, the « tense situations » in the mining area are linked to the weakness of the dialogue and the absence of articulation of public policies and companies’ development strategies in relation to the community investment plan.
The goal sought through the establishment of this platform is to “promote dialogue”, in order to allow the actors concerned to “position themselves on sustainable solutions”.
“Overall, we see that sometimes it is only the communities that talk to each other. The problems are not escalated to the level of the decision-makers and more often than not, there is a weakness of interaction between the companies, the territorial authorities and the communities”, underlined Mr. Diop.
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