(pradd) – liberia - Land Tenure and Property Rights Portal

Clarifying the status of communal customary property rights is an essential precondition for the successfulformulation of an ASDM Policy as it forms the basis of any subsequent rights.Key challenges that need to be addressed in a Framework Policy 14• Appropriate laws and regulations: There are no clear laws and regulations, or appropriatemechanisms for miners to assert their rights or comply with their obligations. Licensing is expensiveand the application process complicated.• Access to information: Artisanal miners have little education and knowledge about their rights andobligations.• Representation: Participation in decision making is limited, and there is no significantrepresentation by a union or federation to promote miners’ interests in negotiations with governmentand other stakeholders on issues which affect them on the regional or national level.• Security of tenure: Claims are often used for small-scale subsistence farming. If security of tenure isuncertain, livelihood is at stake at multiple levels. Inaccurate boundaries lead to disputes and conflictwith other competing land users. Uncertainty about the status of customary land rights poses a threatthat a mining site will become inaccessible. Because customary land rights are not recognized byGOL, other miners or concessionaires could prevent access to a mining site without miners’knowledge or consent.• Geological information and systematic planning: No access to accurate or verifiable geologicalinformation to plan mining activities step by step, or to manage risks and investments. Extraction isinefficient because of rudimentary methods and lack of geological information.• Technical needs: A largely unskilled labor force uses primitive, labor-intensive methods to identifyand mine alluvial deposits. Conditions seldom meet minimum health and safety standards. No accessto technical assistance or modernizations. Uncertainty about which methods are allowed in licensecategory.• Remote natural environment: Mining locations are remote and scattered. Access roads to claimsare non-existent or in poor shape. Informal housing does not provide for basic sanitation or healthneeds.• Informality and Organization: Small margins of profit and no long-term planning. No formalemployment agreements between miners and diggers. Diggers usually work for subsistence (food)and a promised minimal share of any finds. Risk of illegality, contributing to tenure insecurity. Noformal organization and representation.• Planning, capital, or access to financing: Lack of business knowledge. Lending practices fromsupporters, brokers, and dealers proliferate cycle of poverty. Miners often cannot even afford basictools. No access to financing to scale-up production if profitable ore body is found. Claims areusually on communal property, which cannot be used as collateral to obtain financing. Risk profile ishigh, so commercial lenders will not assume the risk.• Marketing: Marketing is largely beyond miners’ control. Miners rely on brokers and dealers tomarket their diamonds. Lack of knowledge to negotiate fair prices for their diamonds because theydo not know the value.• Working conditions: Poor living conditions, long hours, and lack of proper food, hygiene, andsanitation all contribute to high health and safety risks. Uncertainty about geological potential andsmall margin of profit means minimum wages cannot be paid.14Gathered from PRADD field studies and material, stakeholder consultations, Artisanal Mining Policies of other countries, and Global Reporton Artisanal & Small-Scale Mining http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G00723.pdf.14 PRADD LIBERIA: A REVIEW OF THE LEGAL, REGULATORY AND POLICY FRAMEWORKGOVERNING ARTISANAL DIAMOND MINING IN LIBERIA