#Afghanistan - Watchdog Warns Of Millions Being Lost In Mining Sector

The Natural Resources Monitoring Network said embezzlement and bad management at mines was costing the country millions of dollars.

The Natural Resources Monitoring Network (NRMN) criticized government for not reaching its revenue collection target from the mining sector for 2017.

According to the watchdog, the projected income should have been about $1 billion USD but only $15 million USD has so far been earned. The monitoring network said this was extremely low for a country that was potentially so wealthy in terms of minerals. The network said based on the National Development Strategy, the revenue from the mining sector should have been $1 billion USD. The officials accused mines of embezzling money and said bad management was to blame. “For the past three years, mines are being managed very badly – in fact we can say that mines are not being managed,” said Ibrahim Jafari, a member of NRMN.

Meanwhile, the ministry of mines acknowledged that revenue generation had dropped over the past few years. The ministry’s spokesman, Abdul Qadeer Mutfi, said they are reviewing contracts and are working on a strategy for mines and once the strategy has been finalized, measures will be implemented to grow the sector and increase revenue. “Our annual revenue has decreased because big contracts have not been signed and small contracts have been suspended,” said Mutfi. A number of economic affairs analysts meanwhile said the National Unity Government (NUG) has no plans for mine management and that natural resources are being looted.