VOA常速英语2007年-Sierra Leone Moves to Polish Diamonds at Home

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
04 December 2007

Diamonds from Sierra Leone have fueled the country's gruesome civil war and enriched warlords. Now, the government and activists² are trying to make sure the profits from Sierra Leone's post-conflict diamonds help the people who need it most. Naomi Schwarz has this report from VOA's regional bureau in Dakar.

Sierra Leone is famous for high quality and very large diamonds, including one of nearly 1,000 carats. More than 65 million carats are known to have been exported from Sierra Leone since international mining began there in the 1930s. Many millions more carats are believed to have been smuggled³ out of the country.

Yet the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans live in extreme poverty.

In a bid to make sure more Sierra Leoneans benefit from the diamond industry, new president Ernest Bai Koroma is pushing to create laws that will ensure more of the precious stones are polished in country.

Sierra Leonean activist¹ Abu Brima, president of the Network Movement for Justice and Development, says these laws have been a long time coming.

"It is not only a good idea, it is the most expedient⁴ thing to do," he said. "But for diamonds, in this country, it has only been just a country producing and exporting. I think it is about time that we start to add value so that people can benefit more from it."

The president has said building polishing factories in Sierra Leone will also create jobs. Unemployment estimates in Sierra Leone top 70 percent.

But Brima says polishing factories are only one small part of the many problems that remain in Sierra Leone's mineral industry.

"All the issues around production, all the issues around environmental damage and destruction, land recovery, compensation to local communities, the protection of local communities against abuse and violations⁵ by mining companies, the remuneration that is generated, the conditions of workers in the mining industry, actually formalizing the artisans that mostly mining, these are all issues to address," he said.

Polishing stones in-country is a strategy that has helped some southern African countries benefit more from their mineral riches. But Annie Dunnebacke, of international development watchdog Global Witness says implementing⁶ the strategy in Sierra Leone will not be a simple matter.

"Those countries that I mentioned, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, have a very different diamond landscape," said Dunnebacke. "Most of the mining is Kimberlite mining, as opposed to alluvial⁷ mining. And so many of the problems faced by governments who have a lot of artisanal alluvial mining are not necessarily faced in those countries."

Alluvial mining can be accomplished⁸ with relatively⁹ low-tech materials to sift¹⁰ the stones from mud and sand.

Kimberlite mining requires heavy equipment to extract stones embedded¹¹ in volcanic¹² pipes.

The technique is named for the South African town of Kimberley where the first such volcanic diamond deposit was discovered in the late 1800s. The town also gave the name to the so-called Kimberley Process, a certification plan that aims to track where a diamond was extracted, in an effort to end diamond smuggling¹³.

Alluvial mining has led to a diamond industry that is far more fragmented in Sierra Leone than in southern Africa, and consequently one that is harder to keep track of.

Dunnebacke says diamond smuggling remains¹⁴ a huge problem across West Africa.

"There still is, on a yearly basis, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of diamonds smuggled out of Sierra Leone," she said. "So there is clearly an illicit¹⁵ trade not only in Sierra Leone, but also in the region, which of course includes Ivory Coast where conflict diamonds are still being mined and are still being exported."

And Dunnebacke says the fragmented nature of the diamond industry in Sierra Leone means it will be harder to make in-country polishing economically viable¹⁶. She says the government will have to find international manufacturers to build the factories and convince individual diamond dealers¹⁷ to sell to Sierra Leonean factories instead of exporting them directly.

President Koroma has also pledged to tackle corruption¹⁸ in the government and mineral industry. His mining minister has said he will review every mining contract to try to cut out cheating and corruption.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

4 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。

5 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

6 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

7 alluvial   

adj.冲积的；淤积的

参考例句：

• Alluvial soils usually grow the best crops.淤积土壤通常能长出最好的庄稼。
• A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.三角洲河口常见的三角形沉淀淤积地带。

8 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

11 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

12 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

13 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

16 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

17 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

18 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。