Small-scale mining
IT had to take a major disaster like what happened in Itogon, Benguet last week to put a stop to small-scale or open-pit mining operations. Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhutwhich battered Northern Luzon last week, left 54 people dead and 47 missing, after they were buried under the landslides. Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu revoked permits of small scale mining operations despite the appeal of Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan who requested that they consult first with local government and mining stakeholders. During the past years, environmentalists had already warned us about dangers of mining in geo-hazard areas in the country but we have been slow to act by providing preventive measures.
The priority problem now is that of relocating the displaced miners and their families. Mayor Palangdan had also requested Benguet Corporation who owned the bunkhouse where the miners were entrapped, to provide assistance by providing land where surviving miners can temporarily relocate. The Ifugao governor further suggestedneed to train young Ifugaos in new technologies such as planting alternative heirloom or indigenous rice. Or to provide training for employment in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
For unless the government comes up with alternative income opportunities for small scale miners that operate in the area as well as in other parts of the country, the latter have limited capacity to access other means of livelihood. Most of the small miners are either sons or grandsons of former miners and they could not think of other means of support except mining. Others have migrated from other parts of the Cordillera region to work in the mines. This partly explains why the rice terraces in Ifugao have been abandoned.
According to the World Bank, there are about a hundred million people dependent on small-scale mining. Small scale or artisanal mining is largely a poverty-driven activity, characterized by a lack of or reduced degree of mechanization, low level of occupational safety, low level of income, low productivity, and lack of social security. But it has thrived in countries like Cameroon and Ghana in Africa and Central and South America as it is a more attractive source of income than other traditional activities that are open to those with limited education or skills.
Small-scale mining has many negative impacts as miners as exposed to chemical contaminants, unsanitary condition, alcoholism, drug-taking. Women and children are generally the most affected. It is also associated with deforestation, land degradation, open pits, mercury, dust, and noise pollution.
There is also a need to revisit open, illegal and small-scale mining, according to the labor department because of gaps between its definition and the way it is practiced in terms of extraction, current safety measures employed, as well as labor standards and practices.