George Arthur Forrest
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The Georges Arthur Forrest is a Belgian entrepreneur of New Zealand descent, owner of the Forrest Group (also Groupe Forrest), a group of companies founded around the mining industry in 1922.[1]
Forrest Group
The Forrest Group includes "Malta Forrest", "George Forrest International S.A.", etc. Malta Forrest was founded in 1922 by George Forrest's father, Malta, in Katanga, and acts as a mother company of the other groups. The companies consist of diverse industrial activities, including mining, cement manufacturing, public works, hauling, and munitions manufacturing. In 2009 Forrest invested in Korongo Airlines, together with Brussels Airlines and local investors.
Controversies
George Forrest's activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been objects of great controversy. In December 2010 Wikileaks published cables that they alleged showed that US officials were ignoring reports of dangerously high levels of radiation at Forrest's Luiswishi Mine, and implied that uranium was being separated from the ore which purportedly held only copper and cobalt.[2] Groupe Forrest International refuted these rumors, saying that although uranium was present in the copper and cobalt ore from the mine, it was at far too low a grade to be exploited, and radioactivity in the Luiswishi mine was largely lower than the European standards.[3]
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been ravaged by more than ten years of war, and particularly in the city of Lubumbashi, Forrest has been appreciated as one of the few contractors and a large provider of employment and stability. He operates the last cement factory in the country (located in the province of Bas-Congo), has repaired the principal roads in Katanga, and has inspired remarkable progress in Lubumbashi. He notoriously restarted exploiting the "Terril de Lubumbashi" (loosely translated as 'Treasure Heap of Lubumbashi'), recycling the numerous rejected pieces of precious metals in the city.
In Europe, Forrest is generally criticized both for feeding the war economy of the country, and for his activities in the munitions industry[4] (one of his munitions companies was refused an export license by the Walloon Government on June 30, 2005).
References
- ^ http://www.forrestgroup.com/uk/chap02/index.html
- ^ Julio Godoy (26 December 2010). "Wikileaks - Continent Offers Easy Uranium". IPS. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ "Wikileaks "Recent Allegations of Uranium Trafficking in the Democratic Republic of Congo"". GROUPE FORREST INTERNATIONAL. December 20th, 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ War Profiteer of the Month: The Forrest Group
External links
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