"RioTinto in Madagascar: Can QMM's grievance process stand up to scrutiny?", 23 October 2022

It has been more than four months since Malagasy government ministers negotiated the conflict resolution settlement between Antanosy protestors and Rio Tinto’s subsidiary in southern Madagascar. The resolution process was designed to restore calm after months of protests by communities affected by an imposed fishing ban after dead fish were found downstream of QMM’s operations just days after a second mine tailings dam failure and the release of a million cubic metres of QMM mining basin process waters.

At the time, QMM vehemently denied any link between mine process water quality released from its operations in March and the fish deaths, and claimed that government studies exonerated them. However, in response to a Memo by expert Dr Swanson on the probable cause of the fish kills, the company conceded “that it cannot rule out a potential link between the two events” (QMM response to Swanson Memo, June 2022)...

The resolution process that followed required protestors to stop the road blockades. In contre partie the community made a series of demands which were agreed by QMM: firstly, to provide immediate cultural reparation to the communities by offering cows and rice for ceremonial cleansing after the shedding of blood – since some protestors had been hurt and arrested during the protests.

QMM also agreed to provide food aid that had initially been promised during the fishing ban but had not been delivered. QMM now report to have distributed emergency food aid to 7725 affected households in the Mandena area where the mine is situated. Lastly, QMM were required to open a grievance process to address losses – not just for lost livelihoods during the time of the fishing ban but also for a decade of reported losses experienced by communities living around the mine...

News came in July that 8778 villagers had submitted complaints and claims against QMM but these were being “filtered”, and that QMM was not planning to offer financial compensation but would offer instead work to those who had experienced losses. Latest news from the ground suggests that not all claimants will receive compensation, and the process is lacking in transparency. More details are needed to better assess the process and the situation on the ground...

Transparent reporting of the QMM complaints /grievance process in full, independent, impartial investigations and adjudications, and an independent evaluation and audit of the grievance process, in line with international standards, will be essential to restore trust in the company and longer term stability in the region...

Importantly, the process is a real test of whether both Rio Tinto and QMM have actually “reset”, as claimed, and are now addressing QMM’s Community Social Performance (CSP) that suffers from a deficit of trust, since QMM has been failing rural communities in Anosy for almost two decades.