Suriname gold commission bounced 3,000 illegal miners since November

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Since November 2012, the gold commission has removed three thousand illegal gold miners from the Sarakreek area, namely two thousand Brazilians and one thousand Surinamese. “If you don’t have papers, get out immediately,” gold commission chairman Gerold Dompig tells de Ware Tijd.
Two hundred illegal mines have been discovered as well. Dompig says it turned out that miners had no concession rights, but were mining anyway. Miners who drain waste water into the Sarakreek will be removed immediately as well, Dompig adds. Legislator Ronny Asabina (BEP) claims the water of the Sarakreek and even the Van Blommenstein reservoir is seriously polluted due to the gold mining activities in the area. To the inhabitants of the village of Sarakreek, much is unclear about the small-scale mining in the area. “Neither the central government nor the gold commission informs them about developments in their territory. The government must inform the community about the gold mining concessions being granted,” Asabina emphasizes. “Before a concession is granted, the Geological Mining Department and the Ministry of Natural Resources consult local authorities,” Dompig says, yet admitting that this has not been done in all cases. He has no explanation for this, however.
Asabina claims that in some cases inhabitants were expelled from their territory by armed men. He suspects these men work for a security company that has been hired by a concession holder in the area. “The gold commission has been informed of this, but they never took action.” The inhabitants are told they must have the necessary papers, yet Asabina wonders why outsiders have concessions while locals who have applied for those since 1994 are still waiting.