Justin Joseph
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Mining at former Taleban base
SHAMOZAI (Pakistan) - Dusty and exhausted, the miners emerge from tunnels, blinking in the sunlight of this formerly Taleban-controlled valley. They carefully drop their emeralds into a hole in a padlocked wooden box and trudge home to their villages down below.
A year after the Pakistani army ousted the militants from the Swat Valley, emerald miners again work in this mountaintop mine once used by insurgents as a base - a sign of progress in a region struggling to recover from conflict.
Mining - for gems, marble, granite, chromite and coal - is one of the only industries, save for smuggling, in many parts of the northwest. The United States is helping the industry as part of a US$7.5 billion (S$10.3 billion) package to Pakistan that it hopes will create jobs, dry up support for extremism and stop militants from returning. 'It is a big job, but a good job. A rich job!' said Hikmat Ullah, gesturing toward what he says are acres of untapped reserves beneath the rocky, arid soil.
Pakistan has at least US$500 billion in untapped mineral deposits, according to the country's geological survey, though some estimates put the figure twice as high as that. Last week, the US announced unexploited reserves in neighbouring Afghanistan were worth close to US$1 trillion. The key in both Pakistan and Afghanistan will be to overcome the difficulties of developing industry in the region, despite US funding. Production at Shamozai is threatened because of an ownership dispute that alleges Mr Ullah mined hand-in-hand with the militants when they were in control, handing them over a chunk of the proceeds. Mr Ullah denied the charges.
Swat's two other emerald mines remain closed amid allegations of chronic corruption and mismanagement that miners and gem traders say have dogged the industry since the early 1980s. Indeed, many say it was in better shape when the Taleban were in control of the valley. At Shamozai, Mr Ullah employs around 30 men who work tunnels that zigzag some 60 feet (18 metres) into the mountain, following the emerald deposits wherever nature has left them. They earn more than US$100 a month, a good salary in rural Pakistan. Aside from emeralds, gems locked away in Pakistani mountains include pink and golden topaz, aquamarine and many others. Due to a lack of skilled labour, most Pakistan stones are exported to Bangkok or Amsterdam, where teams of cutters polish and make them into much more valuable gems.
A major focus of the US aid is developing that side of the industry in Pakistan. It has trained dozens of men and women from the tribal regions in cutting and polishing. It is also establishing a centre for gem certification in Peshawar, the main north-western town, which would dramatically increase the value of the product.
In August, the US will spend more than US$2 million on new machinery available to rent for quarry owners in Mohmand and Bajur tribal regions, which are especially rich in quality marble and are home to some 500 quarries and 300 processing factories. The army has conducted operations against the Taleban in both regions since 2008 and say both are now cleared. -- AP
Mining at former Taleban base
And still many people says US of A is not helping them.
SHAMOZAI (Pakistan) - Dusty and exhausted, the miners emerge from tunnels, blinking in the sunlight of this formerly Taleban-controlled valley. They carefully drop their emeralds into a hole in a padlocked wooden box and trudge home to their villages down below.
A year after the Pakistani army ousted the militants from the Swat Valley, emerald miners again work in this mountaintop mine once used by insurgents as a base - a sign of progress in a region struggling to recover from conflict.
Mining - for gems, marble, granite, chromite and coal - is one of the only industries, save for smuggling, in many parts of the northwest. The United States is helping the industry as part of a US$7.5 billion (S$10.3 billion) package to Pakistan that it hopes will create jobs, dry up support for extremism and stop militants from returning. 'It is a big job, but a good job. A rich job!' said Hikmat Ullah, gesturing toward what he says are acres of untapped reserves beneath the rocky, arid soil.
Pakistan has at least US$500 billion in untapped mineral deposits, according to the country's geological survey, though some estimates put the figure twice as high as that. Last week, the US announced unexploited reserves in neighbouring Afghanistan were worth close to US$1 trillion. The key in both Pakistan and Afghanistan will be to overcome the difficulties of developing industry in the region, despite US funding. Production at Shamozai is threatened because of an ownership dispute that alleges Mr Ullah mined hand-in-hand with the militants when they were in control, handing them over a chunk of the proceeds. Mr Ullah denied the charges.
Swat's two other emerald mines remain closed amid allegations of chronic corruption and mismanagement that miners and gem traders say have dogged the industry since the early 1980s. Indeed, many say it was in better shape when the Taleban were in control of the valley. At Shamozai, Mr Ullah employs around 30 men who work tunnels that zigzag some 60 feet (18 metres) into the mountain, following the emerald deposits wherever nature has left them. They earn more than US$100 a month, a good salary in rural Pakistan. Aside from emeralds, gems locked away in Pakistani mountains include pink and golden topaz, aquamarine and many others. Due to a lack of skilled labour, most Pakistan stones are exported to Bangkok or Amsterdam, where teams of cutters polish and make them into much more valuable gems.
A major focus of the US aid is developing that side of the industry in Pakistan. It has trained dozens of men and women from the tribal regions in cutting and polishing. It is also establishing a centre for gem certification in Peshawar, the main north-western town, which would dramatically increase the value of the product.
In August, the US will spend more than US$2 million on new machinery available to rent for quarry owners in Mohmand and Bajur tribal regions, which are especially rich in quality marble and are home to some 500 quarries and 300 processing factories. The army has conducted operations against the Taleban in both regions since 2008 and say both are now cleared. -- AP
Mining at former Taleban base
And still many people says US of A is not helping them.