Government suspends eight diamond firms

Eight commercial companies trading in gold and diamonds were suspended on Wednesday after they refused to allow an inter-ministerial commission to investigate their legal status, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported. The radio reported that the suspension was made in a ministerial decision by Mining and Energy Minister Sylvain Ndoutingaye. The minister directed security forces nationwide to implement the suspensions. Set up in May, the Inter-ministerial Investigative Commission was mandated to check the legal status of all commercial companies, especially their exploitation and selling licences. The latest suspensions were made a day after that of Trans Oil, a petroleum company belonging to former President Ange-Felix Patasse who was ousted by former army chief of staff Francois Bozize on 15 March. Two mining and timber companies Patasse owned were suspended in April. The suspensions are part of the government’s campaign against corruption in the country's revenue-generating sectors. Timber and mining activities were suspended nationwide after Bozize's coup, as many firms involved in these sectors were believed to have suspicious fiscal and legal situations. Mining is the second revenue-generating sector for the government, after timber.