Investors eyeing Kenya’s mining sector will have to make do
without concrete data on the country’s mineral wealth after plans for an
aerial survey collapsed.
In a move that plunges the
Kenya Nationwide Airborne Geophysical Survey project into deeper
uncertainty, mistrust of China’s prominent role in the survey has
instigated a bitter falling out, prompting the Exim Bank of China to
withdraw $65 million in funding.
On its part, the
Kenyan government has frozen the contract awarded to Chinese firm
Geological Exploration Technology Institute to carry out the survey.
This development exposes taxpayers to a $20 million fine for breach of contract.
The
falling out became imminent after the government brought on board the
National Intelligence Service to manage, co-ordinate and supervise the
project after mining stakeholders protested that entrusting the survey
to the Chinese could result in manipulated and compromised data.
Ironically,
British and Canadian consultancy firms International GeoScience
Services and Paterson, Grant and Watson had already won the consultancy
contract to oversee the survey.
Petroleum and Mining Cabinet Secretary John Munyes lifted the
lid over the cancellation when he appeared before the Parliamentary
Energy Committee, saying that the project is now solely in the hands of
Kenya to implement. He, however, remained cagey about the country’s
ability to undertake the complex process using only local geologists.
Although
the minister said Kenya will resume on the project in the next three
months, the government must find a way to raise $65 million after the
National Treasury allocated only $5 million in the current budget for
the survey whose total cost is $70 million.
While the
government has put its faith in local experts, the reality is that no
local company has the capacity in terms of human capital and equipment
to undertake the job.
According to the Geological
Society of Kenya, the country has about 1,000 geologists, majority of
whom work in the field of hydro-geology.
The airborne survey is critical because it was to provide a detailed geological map and mineral resource assessment.
The airborne survey is critical because it was to provide a detailed geological map and mineral resource assessment.
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