This is an article repost.
MORE MINING PERMITS have been canceled, this time in Eastern Visayas and Davao Region, as part of ongoing government efforts since mid-October last year to crack down on idle projects and award tenements concerned to qualified companies.
Heads of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s (MGB) regional offices in Tacloban and Davao cities said in separate recent phone interviews that 86 permits and applications in Eastern Visayas, or Region 8, and 137 in the Davao Region, also known as Region 11 or Southern Mindanao, had been rejected as of early this month.
MGB-8 Regional Director Roger A. De Dios said 159 mining tenements and applications had been evaluated.
“Around 54% or 86 mining tenements and applications were denied while the other 46% or 73 applications were endorsed for approval and clearance,” Mr. De Dios said.
In Davao City, MGB-11 Regional Director Edilberto L. Arreza said his office has rejected 137 permits and applications.
He said MGB’s regional offices send three notices in three months to remind companies concerned to keep to project timetables, before canceling permits or rejecting their applications.
Mining tenements consist of mineral production sharing agreement, exploration permit, as well as financial and technical assistance agreement.
In a memorandum order issued on Oct. 15 last year, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources directed all MGB regional offices to enforce a “use it-or-lose it” policy on mining permits in order to make sure these are awarded only to miners with the financial and technical capabilities to complete projects.
Grounds for cancellation include failure to secure host community consent, proof of consultation with the legislative body of the local government with jurisdiction over the project site, and failure to make newspaper and radio announcements within a year from application approval. — R. L. Arinto in Tacloban City and J. B. Escovilla in Davao City
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Source: Business World, July 27, 2011
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