My second day of getting an export clearance was just as painful as yesterday. In the breaks while various clerks reread all the paperwork, my Malagasy Gemmologist, Rufin, set up a meeting with the director of gemstone exportation and the IGM school. I discussed my proposed tours and what a pain it would be for tourist to have to go through this procedure. But they are adamant if they buy over $500us they must have a customs clearance.
I next proposed that since I would have a business visa if bundle it all up and export it all under my name. They were happy with this until they asked how I was going to know what stones were whose. I told them all the smaller bags, in the larger bag, would have their name on it. No way, it all had to be in one bag so it could be tipped out on a scale and weighted all together. Even a suggestion that they could include the bags in the weight was vetoed, apparently it will throw their “production figures” out. I get the feeling that they really don’t care.
Rufin is going to talk to the minister, who is a friend of his, and as I found out today when I spoke to him on the phone, I bought some rough off his son, but it was actually the minister’s rough. I won’t write off having tours yet but I don’t really think people are going to want to spend the last two days of a tour being shuffled back and forward from one government office to another.
Today at lunch time I bought some of the best coloured aquamarine, true Santa Maria blue, and a parcel of bubblegum pink and mint coloured Tourmaline. It’s too late to include them in this clearance, so I’m going to get my partner to double the weight I bought today and add the spinels, green apatite and chrysoberyl coming from south, and then he will send them next week.
This will be my last entry from Madagascar as I fly out to Mauritius tomorrow, have a one day stop over and then fly to Perth on Saturday night arriving Sunday lunchtime. A day lay over there as I have to get the customs done on Monday morning and its home on Monday Night.
I may do some more photos and an entry in Mauritius as I’m planning on buying some gifts and a few new things for Sandra to play with. In one of the markets I found some guys making necklaces using a variety of natural coloured drilled sea urchin spines and they were really good and unusual. They were going to have a packet of various shapes and colours there Saturday morning for me, I hope they remember. If not they’ll have to go and get them as I already have the wife excited about them.
I will see club members on Wednesday at the club and I have to go now as all this typing is stopping me from getting my daily allowance of quinine from the tonic water. See you all soon.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
14th July Tana
I woke feeling very happy and it lasted until I was briefed by the customs broker on the new procedures. Under the old buyers card system "DSTM" you got receipts and went early to the airport on your day of departure, presented them and your card and they worked out your duty, 3% of your receipts, which you paid and that was it.
Under the new system, that takes two days:
1: you take your stones to the Institute of Gemmology and they verify what type of stones are in each parcel and start filling out the paperwork for customs. Its not free, it cost $15us per catagory on the form. For example if you buy a tourmaline specimen, some tourmaline rough and a cut tourmaline, as I did, thats 3 catagories or $45.
2: they then grade the stone, for size and clarity as its a different price for each stone. I thought that they were talking about duty, but no receipts are no longer required, they tell you what they believe they are worth and it has nothing to do with what you paid. Your not here but if you were you would have seen me get a little bit antsy about now. I had words to the gemmologist doing my stones, she is three years finished her FGA and went straight into teaching at the institute with no experience outside the classroom. She always picked the biggest stone to weight and that became the average weight, until I challenged her on it. "Not happy Jan"
3: Then its up to the Dept of Mines, "DOM" where they take her form and write in pencil the cost per carat or gram for each catagory. They have a book, only they have, which list all these prices and I don't know where they come from.
4: The last step for the day the broker goes away and prepares the form with all the cost per catagory based on the information the Institute and DOM give her. I go back to the hotel and try to drown my sorrows.
What I have to look forward to tomorrow!
5: I meet back with broker at the DOM at 9 o'clock where her form and figures are checked. If I'm happy, the stones are then taken off me and sealed in boxes, which I get at the airport when I leave. If I'm not happy I can lodge an appeal, yes and I'm sure they will get around to it by Friday when I leave! At least she has said I can lock them in my carry on bag. Still not happy about them being out of my sight for 24hrs.
6: After stamping the form, we then head to the bank which must raise an export invoice, after siting and getting copies of my passport, visa and return ticket.
7: its then back to the DOM, to a different person, as they only look after one aspect of the process, to get the invoice approved and stamped.
8: back to the bank where I pay the invoice, another stamp on the form and a receipt.
9: lastly back to the DOM to get the final clearance.
Now its hard enough going anywhere in Tana by car but this much back and forth is a joke. To top it all off government and big business shuts from 12 - 2pm for lunch.
New systems are supposed to streamline a process and in the case of a government usually means an increase of fees. This new system only meets one of those criteria.
I am doing this blog at the bar as it has the best wifi reception and they have just told me they have no more gin left, "shirly I haven't drunken that mush". What I have to put up with, vodka instead please!
I've also spoken to the Director general of mines today about bringing tours of lapidary and gemmology people here and the impact this will have. His only comment was that they will have to spend under the limit of $500us or go through this two day process. Now as I sit here tonight and think about all the people that have said they would like to come on a tour here, I could not think of anyone that would come all this way and spend less than that amount.
Unless I can come up with a solution tomorrow, with my broker, I might be confronting a tour killer. This will be a big loss as I spent the first couple of weeks going over routes, hotels, restaurants, mines etc and I have already sent my itinerary out to three tour companies for a per person quote for accommodation, transport, all meals, guides, drivers etc based on a 10 - 12 person tour.
I'm calling it a night as I have had enough of raving and I don't want to damage the laptop falling up the stairs plus I need my sleep as I have so much to look forward to tomorrow. Firts thing will be to make sure the bar gets another bottle of gin. I only drink it for the medicinal virtues of the quinine in the tonic!
Under the new system, that takes two days:
1: you take your stones to the Institute of Gemmology and they verify what type of stones are in each parcel and start filling out the paperwork for customs. Its not free, it cost $15us per catagory on the form. For example if you buy a tourmaline specimen, some tourmaline rough and a cut tourmaline, as I did, thats 3 catagories or $45.
2: they then grade the stone, for size and clarity as its a different price for each stone. I thought that they were talking about duty, but no receipts are no longer required, they tell you what they believe they are worth and it has nothing to do with what you paid. Your not here but if you were you would have seen me get a little bit antsy about now. I had words to the gemmologist doing my stones, she is three years finished her FGA and went straight into teaching at the institute with no experience outside the classroom. She always picked the biggest stone to weight and that became the average weight, until I challenged her on it. "Not happy Jan"
3: Then its up to the Dept of Mines, "DOM" where they take her form and write in pencil the cost per carat or gram for each catagory. They have a book, only they have, which list all these prices and I don't know where they come from.
4: The last step for the day the broker goes away and prepares the form with all the cost per catagory based on the information the Institute and DOM give her. I go back to the hotel and try to drown my sorrows.
What I have to look forward to tomorrow!
5: I meet back with broker at the DOM at 9 o'clock where her form and figures are checked. If I'm happy, the stones are then taken off me and sealed in boxes, which I get at the airport when I leave. If I'm not happy I can lodge an appeal, yes and I'm sure they will get around to it by Friday when I leave! At least she has said I can lock them in my carry on bag. Still not happy about them being out of my sight for 24hrs.
6: After stamping the form, we then head to the bank which must raise an export invoice, after siting and getting copies of my passport, visa and return ticket.
7: its then back to the DOM, to a different person, as they only look after one aspect of the process, to get the invoice approved and stamped.
8: back to the bank where I pay the invoice, another stamp on the form and a receipt.
9: lastly back to the DOM to get the final clearance.
Now its hard enough going anywhere in Tana by car but this much back and forth is a joke. To top it all off government and big business shuts from 12 - 2pm for lunch.
New systems are supposed to streamline a process and in the case of a government usually means an increase of fees. This new system only meets one of those criteria.
I am doing this blog at the bar as it has the best wifi reception and they have just told me they have no more gin left, "shirly I haven't drunken that mush". What I have to put up with, vodka instead please!
I've also spoken to the Director general of mines today about bringing tours of lapidary and gemmology people here and the impact this will have. His only comment was that they will have to spend under the limit of $500us or go through this two day process. Now as I sit here tonight and think about all the people that have said they would like to come on a tour here, I could not think of anyone that would come all this way and spend less than that amount.
Unless I can come up with a solution tomorrow, with my broker, I might be confronting a tour killer. This will be a big loss as I spent the first couple of weeks going over routes, hotels, restaurants, mines etc and I have already sent my itinerary out to three tour companies for a per person quote for accommodation, transport, all meals, guides, drivers etc based on a 10 - 12 person tour.
I'm calling it a night as I have had enough of raving and I don't want to damage the laptop falling up the stairs plus I need my sleep as I have so much to look forward to tomorrow. Firts thing will be to make sure the bar gets another bottle of gin. I only drink it for the medicinal virtues of the quinine in the tonic!
13th July Maevatanana to Tana
An uneventful trip back to the Tana Plaza. A quick call to my customs broker, Madam Didi, to set up an appointment for tomorrow morning, and then I buy some nice aquamarine from a dealer that has turned up and 100 grams of very clean, good colour hessonite (I thought they were spessitite at first) all around two grams in size.
Rufin is off to pick up some aqua and will be back tomorrow afternoon and we are still hoping that some parcels of yellow chrysoberyl, green apatite and spinels (blue, lilac and pink) arrive from the south before I leave. If not Rufin will sort a parcel of the quality I want and send them to me. It’s taken me most of the trip but he finally realizes that I only want the best, in my sizes and that I’m willing to pay higher for them. Not only is he a gemmologist but he also cuts so that helps. He uses a raytect, as that is what they train on at the institute, but he needs some parts that I will source for him and get sent to him. I will be employing him from now on, both to send me parcels and come with me when I come over. He is also going to coordinate all the dealers and mine visits for the tours.
Speaking of getting him parts, that’s with all the other bits and pieces I’ve promised to various cutters, miners and dealers. Dremel core drills bits, rock clippers, a book on opal cutting and setting as they get a type of jelly opal here, plastic zipp lock bags as the Chinese ones here rip very easily, a set of aluminium sieves (I don’t know how I’ll carry them here) because the local ones are made of iron and rust, torches, scales and the list goes on. Also one of the jewellers wants some nice opal he can use for jewellery.
Rufin is off to pick up some aqua and will be back tomorrow afternoon and we are still hoping that some parcels of yellow chrysoberyl, green apatite and spinels (blue, lilac and pink) arrive from the south before I leave. If not Rufin will sort a parcel of the quality I want and send them to me. It’s taken me most of the trip but he finally realizes that I only want the best, in my sizes and that I’m willing to pay higher for them. Not only is he a gemmologist but he also cuts so that helps. He uses a raytect, as that is what they train on at the institute, but he needs some parts that I will source for him and get sent to him. I will be employing him from now on, both to send me parcels and come with me when I come over. He is also going to coordinate all the dealers and mine visits for the tours.
Speaking of getting him parts, that’s with all the other bits and pieces I’ve promised to various cutters, miners and dealers. Dremel core drills bits, rock clippers, a book on opal cutting and setting as they get a type of jelly opal here, plastic zipp lock bags as the Chinese ones here rip very easily, a set of aluminium sieves (I don’t know how I’ll carry them here) because the local ones are made of iron and rust, torches, scales and the list goes on. Also one of the jewellers wants some nice opal he can use for jewellery.
12th July Ambanja to Maevatanana
This wasn’t going to be my overnight stop, but since we stopped to look at spessitite we ran out of time. It has two hotels, one I nearly retched when I walked in the room from the sewage smell and the other had no screens, windows or mozzie nets. I elected mossies, and woke, not that I slept much, the next morning covered in bites. Definitely not a place I will do more than drive through in the future.
I did pick up about 60 grams of good spessitite from the two mines. They are quite different colours with one type your standard orange and the other producing the fanta orange colour. Unfortunately there wasn’t much of the fanta, but Rufin has arranged to collect a parcel of about 100grams and send it to me later.
I did pick up about 60 grams of good spessitite from the two mines. They are quite different colours with one type your standard orange and the other producing the fanta orange colour. Unfortunately there wasn’t much of the fanta, but Rufin has arranged to collect a parcel of about 100grams and send it to me later.
11th July Ambanja
New car arrived at 7 o’clock this morning with two drivers and a mechanic. They tow our vehicle to a garage, to change the gear box with the one they brought with them, and then leave me the new vehicle a Ford Ranger. They’ve have left for Tana when we arrive back that afternoon.
Finally out to the dematoid mines. The 40kms to the closest village is fine but the last 10km to the mine is 4x4 or feet only. The mines are located in an inlet that used to be a mangrove, plus they are starting to creep up the higher ground. As you can see in the photo’s they fill with water being below sea level.
There are two levels of dematoid in seams. One is at approximately 1.5m and the miners sit in the water and just dig out everything and wash it there. The other is at about 18m and requires a group to have a generator for lights and to keep a pump going. They also have to pump it out each morning. The miners have built a levy across the inlet to keep all but the highest tides out so they can work all day. As you can imagine with water constantly seeping in through the walls it’s anything but safe in the deeper mines, but that is where the best material comes from.
I have bought some nice specimens with the stones still on matrix and about 35 grams of facet material 4cts and up, in about 3 hours of looking at stone. Rufin comes here for 1 month at a time and is happy if he gets 200 grams of facet material (2cts and up), so it’s obvious that for me to get 35 grams, of my sizes, in a day that there hasn’t been a buyer here for about a week. Note bring a hat, as there is no shade and it was in the high 20’s here today.
Back at the hotel a few people show up with specimens. Point to note here is to smell the specimens as some are enhanced with extra stones attached with super glue. I buy a couple of spectacular pieces one with 4 crystals all about 12-15mm in amongst some white druzy quartz crystals.
I’ve reached my limit on specimens as I have to carry everything through customs and so I’m limited to what will fit in a bag. Then one person unwraps the best specimen I’ve seen. About a 30cm square matrix with 47 crystals over a cm in size, scatterings of smaller crystals in groups and one crystal over 20mm that must have been over 15 grams. All crystals are terminated and showing all the colours of dematoid on the one specimen. He has had this specimen for 18 months and has a $5,000 price tag on it. No I didn’t buy it, but I will ask Bill from BK Minerals if it’s a good buy and maybe do a bit of bargaining next time.
10th July Antsohihy to Ambanja
This was only about 300km but we limped in late in the afternoon after gearbox trouble. The last 5km accompanied by an awful metal grinding sound. That gearbox is well and truly shot. A quick call to Madarental has a new vehicle leaving straight away with two drivers and they will be here by morning. Just a bit on Madarental, they offer a great service and all the cars come with a panic button that activates at the office, which is manned 24hrs. They also have global tracking of the vehicles and they can immobilise them from the office if they are stolen. Also they have a helicopter available to evacuate anyone that is hurt or injured. You pay less than for an avis or budget 4x4, but its dearer than using a local driver with his own car, but the service is the best.
9th July Tana to Antsohihy
They wanted to do the trip to Ambanja in one day but it was never going to happen. It’s about 900km, but in some places, especially coming down from the highlands you only crawl along. It doesn’t help with all the villages along the way. We stop at a village near a spessitite mine and ask around. Rufin’s contact is at one of the mines, there are two in the area, and will have some material for me on the way back.
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