The Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources (MMMR) and the National Minerals Agency (NMA), together with other stakeholders, including the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), have paid a total of Le. 2.6 billion to various mining chiefdoms across the country as Diamond Area Community Development Fund (DACDF). The payments were made on 24th and 25th June 2016, in Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Kono, by two teams led by the MMMR, the NMA and the MLGRD.
Handing over the cheques to beneficiary chiefdoms in Makeni and Kono, the Permanent Secretary of MMMR explained to the people that the DACDF is an initiative of Government to ensure that people living in diamond producing areas share the benefits of proceeds from diamonds. She noted that the amount received by each chiefdom is directly proportional to the number of licences issued in that Chiefdom and the quantity of diamonds produced. It is therefore in the best interest of chiefdom authorities to work with the NMA to combat illicit mining and smuggling, she went on. Madam Mustapha advised the Chiefdom authorities to use the money for development in the Chiefdom, noting that the MMMR and MLGRD will monitor, to ensure that the money is used for its intended purpose.
Other stakeholders made similar statements, and the local authorities expressed profound thanks and appreciation to Government for the noble initiative of remitting proceeds from diamonds to the communities where they were extracted.
The DACDF is a 25% deduction from the 3% tax that government levies on the export value of all diamonds mined by holders of artisanal mining licenses. This amount is remitted to the producing communities to promote community development. A breakdown of the total amount remitted to each Chiefdom during the payment is given below:
See Spreadsheet.
Please find attached link here:https://www.nma.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/DACDF-for-2015.pdf
