Luanda - The National Assembly (AN) approved Thursday, in general, the Draft Law on Combating Illegal Mining Activity, which criminalizes conducts from the illicit exploitation of mineral resources.
The Bill was approved with 90 votes in favor (MPLA and PHA), zero votes against and 66 abstentions (from the UNITA and Mixed PRS-FNLA parliamentary groups), during the 4th Ordinary Plenary Meeting of the 2nd Legislative Session of the V Legislature.
The document defines expedited procedures for the loss and appropriation in favor of the State of instruments and proceeds of crime.
The Executive's Legislative initiative aims to discourage and criminalize conduct that derives from the illicit exploitation of mineral resources that generate harmful impacts on the environment, human life, public health, the subsistence of communities, the economy and consequent development.
The Proposed Law to Combat Illegal Mining Activity aims to introduce a specific legal regime to combat illegal mining activity that establishes penalties appropriate to the severity of the typified conduct and results, as well as defining expedited confiscation and appropriation procedures in favor of the State.
In her declaration of vote, Irina Dinis Ferreira, from the UNITA parliamentary group, said that the party voted abstention because it believes that the proposal in question must transcend the mere punitive intention of the government and also assume the responsibility of protecting the population that lives in mining areas
'We voted abstention because we agree that there must, yes, be laws that regulate the appropriate relationship between mining activities, but we are also aware that, before combating effects and consequences, we must first combat the causes', she concluded.
For his part, Benedito Daniel, from the PRS-FNLA mixed parliamentary group, justified his abstention by understanding that the Law is necessary, but it is not the only situation of the problem, 'the attitude of those who enforce the law must be corrected, essentially those who deal with the activity and use duality to sanction the population and tolerate elites'.
In his view, 'mining activity is only illegal if carried out by the population, whereas when it is carried out by the elite it is a regular situation', he ironized.
The document will be discussed in the coming days in the specialized committees of the National Assembly and, subsequently, final global approval. DC/SC/ADR/DOJ
