SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews / 16 April) –Five of the nine mining companies operating in the province of Dinagat Islands still do not have Ore Transport Permits (OTP) from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
According to Engr. Noli Arreza, acting regional director of MGB-Caraga, these mining firms failed to comply with the required environment mitigation measures at their mining concessions.
The OTP is just one of the documents needed by the mining firms so they could transport the ore from the mining areas to the big cargo ships, Arreza said. Without OTP, the mining firms could not get Mineral Ore Export Permit (MOEP), he added.
These mining firms are the CPC Rapid City, Amphil 1B, Amphil 2B, HY Mining, and Oriental Synergy Mining Corporation.
Arreza stressed that mining firms should follow the rules and regulations set out by the government.
He said these mining firms have not yet constructed better pollution control facilities such as silting ponds and silting traps so the silt would not go down directly to the creeks and rivers.
Arreza said the mining companies also failed to place nets on slopes to prevent soil erosion.
He added that some of the firms never comply with the National Greening Program, which requires them to plant and nurture trees.
The mining firms who got their OTPs only lately after completing their pollution control facilities are Century Peak, Oriental Vision and Willex Mining Corporation.
Cagdianao Mining Corporation, however, has been in compliance and thus continued its operations without interruptions, Arreza said.
These mining companies, he said, are mining nickel ore, which are being shipped abroad for processing.
Dulmar Raagas, president of the Chamber of Mines-Caraga, refused to comment when contacted by MindaNews.