Friar Júlio Candeeiro was speaking in Luanda, on the sidelines of a conference promoted by Tchota, a platform that integrates several national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which for two days will address various themes around the motto "Natural Resources, a Blessing for All" .
Invited to address the topic on "The Vision of Civil Society on the Process of Angola's Accession to the EITI [Initiative of Transparency in the Extractive Industry]", Júlio Candeeiro praised Angola's candidacy to the initiative, hoping that the adhesion is not "just more an operation of charm", but that the country "truly strives to implement the norms and criteria of this initiative, because it is very good".
"It is a space in which countries undertake to manage, make transparent contracts, transparent production and, above all, that is where a transparent management has been a problem for many States," he said.
According to Mosaiko's director-general, the process involves sharing information, which "is very good for the countries and it is very good for Angola, that this whole process of extracting natural resources, managing revenues from the extraction of resources natural, be transparent".
Despite considering that the country "is still very far" from reaching this level, "it is worth the intention".
"We are not here to tear everything down, we think it is a good initiative that Angola has shown interest in joining the initiative, but there is still a long way to go and for us, as civil society, what worries is that at the same time that the State expresses interest in joining the EITI also passes internal rules that are still far from this process," he said.
The official referred to the recent approval of a law that allows oil exploration in protected environmental zones.
"I cannot fail to mention, with great sadness, the law that allows the extraction of oil in the Okavango basin, which was something [done] very quickly, we had already started to talk about joining the initiative and these are signs that are not very good, they are not in the spirit of the initiative," he added.
For Candeeiro, Angola must prioritize the improvement of communication and transparency in this process.
"We think that the first thing we all have to do is to make an effort to communicate better and be more transparent. If you communicate, if you share information between the different 'stakeholders', the different actors, then the decision process is understood. What has been lacking in many of the cases in our land is information sharing", he stressed.
According to Júlio Candeeiro, the communities most directly exposed to the extraction process often do not have the right to information "and therefore there are noises, there are gray areas, which do not allow the criteria to be understood and defined together, which is priority".
The head of the NGO also highlighted that it is the State's obligation to ensure that, in the negotiation of contracts, the rights of communities are safeguarded in the first place and then, at the level of the General State Budget, this benefit reaches everyone.
"We can be indirect beneficiaries, because we are miles from the mine areas, but those people who go to the river and find contaminated water, who have to ingest the dust of production or people who wake up and see their fish dead, because there was a spill, these people cannot be treated like someone who is here in Luanda just looking at the dollars of production and the State has to guarantee that", he defended.
In turn, the Director of Exchange of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Luís Monteiro, said that the national coordination committee, composed of 33 members, held its first meeting in April this year and drew up and approved a plan for work, as well as a budget, which is in its implementation phase.
The government representative said that Angola is moving away from intense diamond exploration, is disciplining this activity wherever it takes place and is developing new projects, namely gold, ornamental stones, rare earths, iron exploration.
Luís Monteiro, urged to comment on the frequent complaints of the local population for not directly benefiting from their natural resources, replied that "this is a process" that is already underway.
"Happening is already happening, there are a number of projects that are being implemented and each of these projects has a social component and there is a tendency to take this activity to those areas where resources are effectively extracted", he argued.
Friar Júlio Candeeiro was speaking in Luanda, on the sidelines of a conference promoted by Tchota, a platform that integrates several national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which for two days will address various themes around the motto "Natural Resources, a Blessing for All" .
Invited to address the topic on "The Vision of Civil Society on the Process of Angola's Accession to the EITI [Initiative of Transparency in the Extractive Industry]", Júlio Candeeiro praised Angola's candidacy to the initiative, hoping that the adhesion is not "just more an operation of charm", but that the country "truly strives to implement the norms and criteria of this initiative, because it is very good".
"It is a space in which countries undertake to manage, make transparent contracts, transparent production and, above all, that is where a transparent management has been a problem for many States," he said.
According to Mosaiko's director-general, the process involves sharing information, which "is very good for the countries and it is very good for Angola, that this whole process of extracting natural resources, managing revenues from the extraction of resources natural, be transparent".
Despite considering that the country "is still very far" from reaching this level, "it is worth the intention".
"We are not here to tear everything down, we think it is a good initiative that Angola has shown interest in joining the initiative, but there is still a long way to go and for us, as civil society, what worries is that at the same time that the State expresses interest in joining the EITI also passes internal rules that are still far from this process," he said.
The official referred to the recent approval of a law that allows oil exploration in protected environmental zones.
"I cannot fail to mention, with great sadness, the law that allows the extraction of oil in the Okavango basin, which was something [done] very quickly, we had already started to talk about joining the initiative and these are signs that are not very good, they are not in the spirit of the initiative," he added.
For Candeeiro, Angola must prioritize the improvement of communication and transparency in this process.
"We think that the first thing we all have to do is to make an effort to communicate better and be more transparent. If you communicate, if you share information between the different 'stakeholders', the different actors, then the decision process is understood. . What has been lacking in many of the cases in our land is information sharing", he stressed.
According to Júlio Candeeiro, the communities most directly exposed to the extraction process often do not have the right to information "and therefore there are noises, there are gray areas, which do not allow the criteria to be understood and defined together, which is priority".
The head of the NGO also highlighted that it is the State's obligation to ensure that, in the negotiation of contracts, the rights of communities are safeguarded in the first place and then, at the level of the General State Budget, this benefit reaches everyone.
"We can be indirect beneficiaries, because we are miles from the mine areas, but those people who go to the river and find contaminated water, who have to ingest the dust of production or people who wake up and see their fish dead, because there was a spill, these people cannot be treated like someone who is here in Luanda just looking at the dollars of production and the State has to guarantee that", he defended.
In turn, the Director of Exchange of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Luís Monteiro, said that the national coordination committee, composed of 33 members, held its first meeting in April this year and drew up and approved a plan for work, as well as a budget, which is in its implementation phase.
The government representative said that Angola is moving away from intense diamond exploration, is disciplining this activity wherever it takes place and is developing new projects, namely gold, ornamental stones, rare earths, iron exploration.
Luís Monteiro, urged to comment on the frequent complaints of the local population for not directly benefiting from their natural resources, replied that "this is a process" that is already underway.
"Happening is already happening, there are a number of projects that are being implemented and each of these projects has a social component and there is a tendency to take this activity to those areas where resources are effectively extracted", he argued.
