DTC sightholders perturbed as market opens up
Friday, July 16, 2010
The 16 diamond cutting and polishing firms are Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) sightholders with exclusive rights to all production from Debswana. However, the entry of production from Firestone's BK 11 Mine near Orapa and forthcoming supply from African Diamonds AK6 has unruffled monopoly feathers. Sightholders who spoke to BusinessWeek on condition of anonymity this week said while there was high interest in the industry to tap into Firestone and African Diamonds' supply, legal grey areas still existed in terms of the sightholder contract with DTCB.
The local firms are representatives of their international parent companies who actually sign the sightholder contracts with De Beers, a 50 percent shareholder in DTCB, alongside the Government of Botswana. "Most are seeking clarification on the sightholder contract to see whether it allows them to tender for the production that will soon be coming through from Firestone and African Diamonds," said a representative at one of the sightholders.
The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...