Market News The organization of mining companies said the proposal that the government will undertake exploration and allow small miners to do the mining is hard to implement because aside from being expensive, the government does not have the capacity to do it.
Mining group: gov’t ‘incapable’ of investing in mining activities |
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Dominguez said the government invited the mining companies to the country to ?€œplease bring their financial capabilities and technical capabilities?€ so that the country?€™s mineral resources can be He added that based on global data, only 500 of the 25,000 get drilled and ?€œonly one becomes a mine.?€ Dominguez said that under the Constitution, ?€œminerals belong to the states and that the mining companies are only ?€œcontractors and servants of the state.?€ He added that this makes mining projects as projects of the state and that those who block the implementation of these projects are ?€œanswerable to the state.?€ Dominguez and several representatives of his organization wanted attend the two-day mining forum at the Ateneo de Davao University where he was an alumnus, but were prevented from joining it. Fr. Joel E. Tabora, president of the university and among the organizers of the forum, cited academic Organizers of the mining forum have asked the government to scrap the 1995 Mining Act and replace it In the two-day mining forum that ended Friday, organizers said that it would be better to stop existing mining projects and repeal the 1995 Mining Act to pave the way for the Minerals Management Act, a proposal that will allow government to do the exploration on its own and only allow small-scale mining companies with best practices to operate. The Mindanao Business Council said the government should consider that these mining companies spend their capital in the country and face the risk of getting nothing out of their money. ?€œWe should protect these companies because they are helping our economy,?€ said Vicente T. Lao, chair of the council. But those planning to enter the city to explore its possible minerals deposits will find it hard because the city government wants the city to be declared ?€œmine-free zone.?€ But both the mining companies and the government said the law on mining has specified environmental protection and social equity. In explaining the proposed ?€œpro-people?€ law, Prof. Manuel P. Quibod, dean of the Ateneo de Davao University-College of Law, said that while minerals are ?€œowned by the state,?€ mining companies, many of them from other countries, only pay small taxes to government and bring their profits to their countries. Quibod said the government ?€œshould get the bigger share from mining activities?€ as this will benefit the people of the country. The national government has yet to release its new, clearer mining policy after President Benigno Simeon S. Aquino III ordered that the national government review its mining policy. The biggest controversy hounding the mining industry at present is the action of some local government to pass laws that have damaging effects on mining projects in their areas. Both the governments of South Cotabato and Zamboanga Sibugay filed similar ordinances that prevent open-pit mining. In Zamboanga Sibugay, the TVI Resources Development was able to secure a injunction order from the court on the ordinance, but the Sagittarius Mines Inc. has yet to make a similar move. It was a double-black eye for Sagittarius Mines as the Environment department refused to grant its environmental compliance certificate, despite completing the requirements, on the ground that it could only granted if the open-pit mining ban is lifted. The action of the government on the application of the company was criticized both by the industry and the business sector, with Lao calling it an ?€œindication that government is scaring away investors.?€ Authors: mining - Yahoo! News Search Results Read more... http://www.mindanaotimes.net/mining-group-govt-incapable-of-investing-in-mining-activities/ |