Team finds no violation in mine firm operations in Agusan del Norte
BUTUAN CITY – A team of environment and mining experts, as well as indigenous people and church groups, have cleared the San Roque Metals Inc. (SRMI) of environmental violation charges coming from local politicians in Agusan del Norte.
A multipartite environmental monitoring team formed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said it did not find any evidence showing SRMI committed serious violations of environmental and health hazard laws in Tubay, Agusan del Norte.
Reynaldo Gonzales, head of the MGB-led team, said SRMI’s operations did not breach environmental and health laws. This, he said, was the team’s findings when it inspected the company’s mine site in Tubay last month.
Gonzales said the firm’s nickel operation was within government’s mining, environment and health standards.
SRMI, which operates a nickel mine on a 1,300-hectare land in Tubay, Agusan del Norte, was among four big mining companies based in the Caraga region being investigated by the MGB.
“The coastal water around the causeway was observed to be clear while no trace of silt was noted at its beach sand line,” said Gonzales in the team’s report.
Gonzales admitted, though, that SRMI committed minor violations and that the company had been told to correct them.
“We found no major environmental violation committed by SRMI. But their operation is not perfect and there are minor violations and they can be corrected. So we advised them to correct [them],” he said.
The team, led by Gonzales, included Rey Ghale D. Balite of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Environmental Management Bureau; Aniana J. Radaza of the DENR’s community environment and natural resources office; Ricardo Dequina of the Diocese of Butuan; Aliora Paje, barangay captain of La Fraternidad; Datu Ebanta Morada, representing indigenous peoples; and Junie B. Gabisan of St. Anne parish church.
Lawyer Alvin G. Giolagon of the Department of Interior and Local Government, joined the team’s inspection to check the veracity of charges made by Tubay Mayor Sadeeka Garcia-Tomaneng and Vice Mayor Fidel Garcia (Tomaneng’s father) of alleged serious environmental violations committed by SRMI, the largest nickel company in the region.
In its report entitled “Annual Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program,” the team said it found no siltation in the river and bay as claimed by Tomaneng and Garcia.
The team’s report said SRMI had done its part to protect the Butuan Bay from siltation by fortifying the Tubay causeway with “rock boulders and a drainage canal adjacent to it.”
It also noted the planting of thousands of trees around the mining site and the production of thousands of seedlings.
The Tubay government earlier passed a resolution seeking a stop to SRMI operations. Franklin Caliguid, Inquirer Mindanao
