Word has it that the latest draft of Bolivia's new mining law would share royalties from mining operations with nearby indigenous communities, according to a report by La Razón this morning (sorry no English link on this one).
Royalties from mining operations are currently divided between the prefecture and the municipality the project takes place in, with 85% going to the former and 15% to the latter. Under the new law, however, the prefectures would now only receive 80%, giving the remaining 5% to local indigenous communities.
The draft law also includes a mechanism for redistributing royalties among neighboring municipalities if annual royalty payments are larger than $600,000. If this is the case, the prefecture would only receive 70%, with 20% now going to poorer neighboring municipalities and 5% going to the local municipality. Now, if annual royalties top $600,000 the indigenous share drops to 2% and the remaining 3% goes to... the Armed Forces? Sounds to me like a compromise gesture to members of the military upset over ongoing institutional reforms.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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Wow!! How so very generous of them. While I am a big fan of Evo and MAS, 5% of something that in actuality belongs 100% to the indigenous. What a concept! Next I guess they'll be trying to buy the gas deposits for $24.00 worth of trinkets. Fabulous, huh?
ReplyDeleteLet's see if anyone gets the reference besides an old codger who went to school ages ago.