Publish and Revise 70% of Mining and Agricultural Lease Agreements and Contracts (SL0009)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Sierra Leone Action Plan for 2014-2016
Action Plan Cycle: 2014
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Information and Communication
Support Institution(s): Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, National Minerals Agency
Policy Areas
Access to Information, Extractive Industries, Fiscal Openness, Land and Spatial Planning, Open Data, Private Sector, Public Participation, Publication of Budget/Fiscal InformationIRM Review
IRM Report: Sierra Leone End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Sierra Leone IRM Progress Report 2014-2015
Early Results: Did Not Change
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): High
Implementation i
Description
Currently, not all mining and agribusiness agreements and contracts are accessible documents vis-à-vis Government online repositories. Following the preparation of the 2011 EITI report, a gap analysis was undertaken by Government institutions in collaboration with civil society organizations and one of the key areas of concern was the revision of contracts and making these documents public. While significant progress has been made on the revision of key mining contracts, some work is still required on making lease agreements and contracts public in an effort to promote transparency and encourage civic participation in the debate and execution of mining contracts. This commitment will create more access points for the public to these documents to engender national debate. Similar issues lie around agribusiness contracts and the level of concern is similar to that of mining companies. Actions Required/Milestones for Completion:
a) 70% of mining and agricultural contracts published on the yet to be established open data portal, in addition to the websites of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, National Minerals Agency and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security.
b)
c) A yearly symposium held of private sector partners, relevant communities, Government and Civil Society Organizations to discuss the state of contract execution.
d) PublicdiscussionsheldonallnewMininglicensesandAgribusiness contracts before they are signed by Government with relevant documentation prepared for public dissemination by the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security.
e) Participating companies make public their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies and yearly Work Plan (online posting a minimum) to facilitate operation of the Community Development Agreement and ascertained by the Strategy and Policy Unit.
Publish processes and outline the checks and balances carried out
for allocation of licenses by the Ministry of Mines and Mineral
Resources and the Petroleum Directorate.
f) Adherence monitored by the National Minerals Agency in a yearly assessment of the respective work plans of the participating Companies.