New conditions for limestone land concessions
New conditions for limestone land concessions
Authorities in Vientiane province have formulated new conditions for entrepreneurs who are interested in land concessions for excavating limestone after many businesses have not taken any action to progress their quarrying operations.
An official from the provincial Department of Energy and Mines, Mr Souvanny Sonthavixay, told Vientiane Times yesterday that the main condition was that investors should be well-prepared with machinery, equipment and finances.
The companies should also have a market for them to sell the limestone, Mr Souvanny said.
“We checked their documents for land concessions for excavating limestone in the province in the past, however, we did not have any clear details or background on the companies,” he said.
Mr Souvanny said some businesses have concessions to continue their sales to other companies, while some are seeking finance from other sources in order to complete their operations.
Land concessions being provided without any evident development has caused losses to state revenue.
The authorities have cancelled six authorised land concessions for excavations as the businesses who received them did nothing in relation to excavating limestone, Mr Souvanny said.
“The entrepreneurs who received the concessions did not do anything regarding their business activities, therefore we decided to cancel the authorised concessions,” he said.
Adding that, two years had passed since authorisation was given to the six concessions, with the excavations required to be conducted within one year.
Up until mid-August, 48 properties in the province were given the green light for limestone excavations.
However, Mr Souvanny said only 21 properties had been excavated and it is unclear whether the other properties had seen any progress.
According to the authorities, the production of limestone and excavation activities in the province earned more than 1 billion kip and generated 133 million kip for last year's state budget.
Mr Souvanny said the authorities had warned the businesspeople who received authorisation but had not done anything in regards to the works that they may hand the concession rights to other businesses that were prepared to undertake the operations.
Most of the land is in Vangvieng district, with a few other districts also being authorised with land concessions.
“Despite the province being seen to be struggling with the issue, we still need more investors who would like to do business in this sector as the province has many limestone areas which need to be invested in,” Mr Souvanny said.
The provincial authorities have not enforced any stricter measures in reprimanding these businesses, but the province will be given the chance to choose companies who are able to perform.
vientiane times
