LETTER: Most mining companies couldn’t care less for local communities
Having lived on the Copperbelt in Zambia, my family moved to Nkana in the early 1900s to work in the mines. The problems that have generated accusations of resource nationalism could not be further from the truth (Barrick swims against rising tide of resource nationalism in Zambia, January 21). The historical approach of the large mining houses has not only been a justified pursuit of profits, but one of unabashed greed and exploitation of countries with weak or nonexistent regulatory frameworks. It has been too easy for multinationals to influence poorly resourced African government regulatory bodies, all in the name of profit. Often mining company CEOs become corporate despots deep in the “dark continent”, away from the glare of the environmental and corporate watchdogs and oversight that is present in the West. What would be considered criminal practice becomes acceptable under the leafy tropical canopy and tall savanna grasslands. Nepotism, insider trading, over-employment of ex...
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