At
an extra-ordinary press
conference, at which
virtually all the
diplomats in The Gambia
were present, the
Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, Crispin
Grey-Jonson, stated
calmly but most
definitely clearly the
Gambia government's view
that Carnegie Minerals
(Gambia) Ltd, an
Australian-owned company
with a British managing
director, had engaged in
criminal deception
against the people and
government of The
Gambia.
The purpose of the press
conference, held at the
Atlantic Corinthia
Hotel, was to assure the
diplomats, the business
community and investors
that the government of
The Gambia is
pro-business and
pro-investment.
But, as explained by the
SoS, Carnegie Minerals
had taken advantage of
the fact that The Gambia
is a country without the
laboratories to test
what they were taking
out of The Gambia to
deliberately deceive the
authorities.
"We gave them a license
to mine for Zircon,
Silicon and Ilmenite",
explained SoS
Grey-Johnson. "And they
declared to us that they
were mining and
exporting these three
minerals.
They sent out huge
quantities of mined
metric tons of sand to
Australia and onward to
China. When we sent
samples of the sand for
laboratory tests abroad,
the results came back
showing that in addition
to mining Zircon,
Silicon and Ilmenite,
the company was also
exporting Titanium, Iron
Ore and Uranium".
The government of The
Gambia then took steps
to get an explanation
from Carnegie Minerals.
"We gave the management
of the company an
opportunity to explain
what they took out of
the country.
They declared only the
three minerals they
thought we knew about.
After we received the
second samples, we asked
them again. Again, they
declared only the three
minerals they thought we
knew about. This was a
deliberate misleading of
the government of The
Gambia. Carnegie's
license was revoked and
the matter referred to
the police. To use
ordinary language "It is
a rip-off", concluded
SoS Grey-Johnson.
The Foreign Affairs SoS
was flanked by
colleagues, Neneh
Macdouall-Gaye, SoS for
Communication and
Informaton Technology,
and Marie Saine-Firdaus,
the attorney general and
SoS for Justice, as he
answered questions from
the gathered diplomats.
The British High
Commissioner, Phill
Simkinson, who had an
interest in the fate of
the British managing
director of Carnegie
Ltd, asked whether the
managing director might
not be made "a scape-goat"
for the Australian
company. The High
Commissioner also asked
if the governments
laboratory results would
be released.
SoS Grey-Johnson assured
him that no one would be
made a scape-goat. There
is a criminal
investigation by the
police and the managing
director is in the best
position to help the
police with their
inquiries.
The Attorney General
Saine-Firdaus assured
the High Commissioner
that the Carnegie MD
would indeed be
well-looked after,
adding that he has been
visited by his wife. The
Attorney General also
stressed that there is a
limit on the amount of
information that can be
given out as the matter
is under investigation.
The SoS Information,
Macdouall-Gaye, invited
journalists and others
concerned about the
matter to feel free to
contact her office.
SoS Grey Johnson thanked
the gathering and the
press conference
concluded.
The Daily Observer
(Banjul)
15 February 2008
Dida Halake
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