Botswana
Diamond mines close due to falling demand
Article published on the 2009-02-24 Latest update 2009-02-24 12:14 TU
A model wears diamond bracelets at an Academy Award event in early February
(Credit: Reuters)
Debswana is closing the Orapa and Damtshaa mines in the north of the country until the end of 2009, slashing 588 jobs. The company contends that only 235 people will lose their jobs in total, as 345 have already been placed at different positions in the organisation.
The company is trying to persuade employees between the ages of 50 and 59 to take early retirement to free up jobs for those remaining, Esther Kanaimba, a Debswana spokesperson told RFI.
De Beers reported last week that diamond production decreased four per cent from 33.6 million carats in 2007 to 32.3 million carats in 2008.
Although global diamond demand is on decline, Botswana's Wildlife Minister announced last Saturday that the government has granted licences for mining exploration in of the world's largest game parks.
The companies will look for diamonds, uranium, coal and base metals in the Central Kghlagadi Game Reserve in the centre of the country.
The reserve has been home to the people known as the Kalahari Bushmen for thousands of years. It also is home to numerous species of animals, including lions, cheetah, leopards, springbok, gemsbok and duiker.
Botswana announced a budget deficit at the beginning of February.
"The Botswana government has always traditionally had a surplus," said Anthony Siwawa, an analyst for VPB Botswana, a local finanical group.
"And those surpluses were not necessarily a reflection of the fact that we had a lot of revenue, but mostly a reflection of the fact that a lot of (infrastructure) projects were not being completed on time," Siwawa told RFI.
Now there is more pressure to deliver on the infrastructure projects, said Siwawa, "but at the same time, that has also been coupled with a reduction in government revenue".
