Community Development - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 614

to an authoritarian approach, providing hand-out programmes that are either uni t for, or
an insult to the community.

Minimizing Direct Transfers

A CD programme organized as a charity is hardly sustainable. Cash transfers represent
a direct charge to the company's bottom line, while to the community the cash takes on
the character of an entitlement. These transfers have very limited potential for initiating
a higher level of development. Simply moving cash from one pocket to another is seldom
the answer. The mining company, however, is morally, and often legally required to make
these contributions, not least to support local government programmes. Cash transfers
should be i xed, either as an absolute amount, or tied to scale of production or operation.
Indexing contributions to revenues (or proi ts) invites mistrust about how these amounts
are calculated, and more importantly, means that funds will be cut during business slow-
downs, when the community will already be suffering from employment cutbacks.
Above all, cash transfer payments should be transparent - everyone should know how
much is going where, before it happens. It is hardly a secret that the opportunity for cor-
ruption is a challenge faced by CD programmes. Any budget for any purpose in develop-
ing nations faces this reality. Community development money is seen as buying peoples'
co-operation. Even a completely honest programme faces the perception that someone is
benei ting on the side, and resentment develops from those who believe they are not getting
their share. The best defence is honesty and transparency. Community relations programmes
may need to push money in obscure directions at times, which is all the more reason for hav-
ing clear divisions between community relations and CD programmes and budgets.
It is often necessary for the mining company to i nance community participation in the
planning process. Most local communities in developing countries do not have the i nan-
cial resources to undertake or to participate in a major development planning exercise. By
assisting the community to participate, a mining project can ensure better relationships
that will be extremely valuable in later discussions if there are contentious issues.
It is also no secret that mining projects often i nance government participation. In some
countries this is mandatory and governments prescribe standard allowances for accommo-
dation, per diems, etc. to be provided to government participants. Financing government
participation can take on many forms, e.g. providing lunch (with extra lunch boxes avail-
able to be taken home), paying travel expenses or handing out daily allowances. What is
acceptable in one country may be unacceptable or even illegal in another. Cash payments
of course open a window for misuse. For example money for accommodation may not
be used as intended, if participants stay with relatives; money for air travel is not used as
intended since a cheaper mode of transportation may be selected.

Cash transfer payments should
be transparent - everyone
should know how much is going
where, before it happens.

Coordinating With Mining Operations

Community development does not operate in isolation; it is part of the overall operation so
it is essential to coordinate CD programmes with other mining activities. CD programmes
should be coordinated with the company's community/public relations, environmental
management, land acquisition, purchasing, safety and health, and security efforts. These
are all areas where company actions can interact with the local community, and an incon-
sistent policy in any of these areas can frustrate the objectives in other areas. In practi-
cal terms, coordination of these functions means that the people who are responsible for

Community development does
not operate in isolation; it is
part of the overall operation so
it is essential to coordinate CD
programmes with other mining
activities.