PROMISING SINCE 2010 governments to organize the gold sector. They registered gold miners, announced controls and set up committees. But while gold continues to disappear, the government continues to make plans. The installation of two new teams this week by President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons therefore raises the question: ‘what happened to all the preliminary work of recent years?’
Under the second Venetian cabinet, missions were sent to the gold fields. The Clean Sweep operation during that government did not produce a sustainable solution. President Desi Bouterse followed in 2011 with the Committee on the Regulation of the Gold Sector of Suriname. The government later reported that approximately eighteen thousand people had been registered, compared to an estimated forty thousand present in and around the mining areas. Evictions took place and there were plans for mining service centers. But registration is not yet regulation and eviction is not a sustainable policy. That has proven to be the case.
The gold sector is complicated. And there are major (political) interests at play. This does not absolve the government of its duty to enforce rules and protect the public interest
The 2015 Natural Resources budget called that year the final phase of the commission. The government had to decide whether the work of the commission should be transferred to a Mineral Authority. The same budget stated that more than thirty thousand people worked in the gold sector, while the state received insufficient revenue. These were clear signals: the government knew the extent of the problem and had an institutional next step in mind. Where is/is that authority?
A new committee was established in September 2020. Now by President Chandrikapersad Santokhi. It published a draft report within three months. The announced agenda was broad: inventory the sector, register gold miners, establish the legal framework, digitize maps and collect taxes. It is currently unknown what was decided, implemented or discarded after the release of that report.
Geerlings-Simons acknowledged in August that previous committees did not produce the desired results. Her government is therefore working on one Gold Board and draft legislation. Now there are two teams again, with a four-year mandate. Their mission concerns the same problems: legislation, registration, mercury pollution, state revenues and enforcement.
It could be useful if these teams were actually given powers, resources and political support. But without public accountability, this process also threatens to end in reports, working visits and new announcements. The question is not just what the committees will do. The government must first show what it is doing with existing legislation and regulations in order to address what can and must be addressed.
NDP faction leader Rabin Parmessar spoke in parliament this week about hundreds of kilos of gold disappearing from a certain area every week, while the state barely receives any income. If that estimate is correct, another round of consultations is not an answer. Then supervision, enforcement and political responsibility are urgently needed.
The gold sector is complicated. And there are major (political) interests at play. This does not absolve the government of its duty to enforce rules and protect the public interest. Order does not start with yet another committee, but with the courage to apply rules, tackle powerful interests and explain to the public why previous measures have failed.
