Text and image Euritha Tjan A Way
PARAMARIBO — Suriname is seriously lacking in enforcing rules and legislation in the gold sector. Partly because of this, the environment has become the victim. But that will no longer be tolerated. This can be deduced from the annual speech of President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons.
The head of state did not mention, outside the final text of the annual speech, that the National Environmental Authority (NMA) has received written permission to close companies in the Saramacca area that are still not working according to the protocols. Minister Patrick Brunings of Oil, Gas and the Environment says otherwise the True Time that this shows the political will to actually tackle pollution in the gold sector. “That is why we are now strengthening the legal basis for environmental inspectors. We want to submit this to parliament this year and then push for it to be dealt with quickly.”
“It costs a lot to carry out operations in the hinterland and that budget is sometimes not available”
OGM Minister Patrick Brunings
Support
The minister, under whose responsibility the NMA functions, calls closing companies a complex matter. “It is not something that we can do right now. We need supporting agencies to work with us to make this happen. And when we have installed the environmental inspectors and they have a good legal basis, we will be in a stronger position.”
Brunings emphasizes that the president has also said that the agencies that support the NMA must be strengthened. “They also need to know the role of the NMA in order to act successfully.”
Pelin Bergi
On the gold mining activities at Pelin Bergi, he confirmed that the NMA had previously visited the site but was denied entry. The concession conditions of the entrepreneur state that only mining inspectors from the Geological Mining Service may have access to the concession. “Environmental inspectors will also have that authority. They are already mentioned in the Environmental Framework Act, but we need an implementation decree to establish their actions by law,” Brunings explains.
These inspectors will then have far-reaching powers to, for example, carry out unannounced inspections. They may inspect the books of such an entrepreneur and also have business activities suspended and fines imposed. “All this after thorough research has shown that a company does not meet the requirements of the environmental permit.”
The minister admits that there appears to be confusion in society between the environmental permit that is issued after a company has demonstrated that it works in accordance with the environmental regulations of the NMA and a permit from a licensing authority. The latter could, for example, be the Ministry of Natural Resources (NH), which awards mining rights to entrepreneurs. “That distinction must be made carefully.”
Momentum
Brunings explains that the NMA has only existed for two years and derives its powers from the Environmental Framework Act. A framework law is a broad law that requires implementation decrees to implement matters. “We are going to work hard on that. We are also working on setting up the supervisory board so that the authority can work as independently as possible. Within two years we have made good progress. I understand that people think things are going slowly, but we are working hard. It is important that there is momentum now; there is political will.”
In order to be able to act effectively, a lot of cooperation is needed, for example with NH. “Collaboration with all parties can be much better. But we also have to be realistic. It costs a lot to carry out operations in the hinterland and that budget is sometimes not available,” says Brunings.
He explains that many concessions have been issued in recent years, but that the control of work in the field is lagging behind enormously. “I don’t think that was properly thought through.”
The Public Prosecution Service also has a role to play in combating environmental crimes. This is where the Environmental Crime Unit (ECU) is located, which is responsible for conducting criminal investigations into environmental crimes. “It would be ideal to put together a forensic team that takes action when there is an environmental crime.”
The minister states that the NMA, police, ECU and the licensing authority must each have a representative in that team. “Such a team then has all the expertise to act quickly and efficiently,” says Brunings.
