A nine-point strategy to protect Agusan del Sur’s 765,513- hectare watershed against dumping of toxic waste materials from small-scale gold mining operations has been drawn up by the province’s local government and environment authorities.
The strategy includes delineating the area of actual operations and census of all small-scale miners in the province. It was crafted during a recent forum organized by the Agusan del Sur Environment and Sustainable Development Council (ASEDC) and held at the provincial capitol in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.
The activity is in line with the directive of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jose L. Atienza for the mining industry to protect the environment in the conduct of their extractive activities.
Agusan del Sur provincial environment and natural resources officer (PENRO) Sixto Badua said the mayors of the 14 municipalities in the province supported the program and also called for the creation of a mining industrial or economic zone in the province.
Badua said there is a need to weed out speculators and absentee claimants. He pointed out that their presence has made it difficult to in determine the real number of small-scale mining operators in the province.
The Natural Resource Management and Sustainable Development Unit (NRMSDU) of the provincial government conducted recently an inventory of all the mining industry in the province and found that many small-scale mining operations in the province used sub-standard facilities.
The NRMSDU also noted that some small-scale miners need training on proper mining operations for their own safety.
During the forum, concerns were raised about the dangers posed to the Agusan’s watershed area by small-scale mining activities which, according to Badua, “have sprouted over the past five years.”