Iloilo City – The Mines and Geosciences Bureau VI (MGB-6), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), with the multi-partite monitoring team (MMT), completed monitoring the 11 permit holders in Negros Occidental on their compliance with their respective work programs. These are companies or individuals who have approved mineral processing permits (MPP) and industrial and gravel permits (IP) in the province.
Engr. Eldynmer C. Alfaro, Jr. of the Mine Safety, Environment and Social Development Division (MSEDD), MGB-6 reported the results of monitoring conducted in Negros Occidental on September 12-16, 2022, together with the members of the MMT. The MMT is composed of representatives of MGB-6, DENR, local government unit, non-government organizations (NGO), permit holders, and the affected community or barangay.
MMT monitoring activities are done on a quarterly basis to ensure that the permit holders are complying with the terms and conditions of their Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), and approved work program covering the different environmental and safety aspects of the operations.
The MMT looks into the impacts of the operation on the air/noise, water, and conservation and comes up with measures to address them. The findings and observations were presented to the company, and they present their commitments to address the findings and recommendations of the MMT. The environmental commitments of the company are funded from their Mine Rehabilitation Fund composed of the monitoring trust fund (MTF), rehabilitation cash fund (RCF), and the final mine rehabilitation and decommissioning fund (FMRDP) which are being managed by the Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) of each province. This institutionalizes the commitments of the company to address the environmental impacts of their operations as detailed in the respective environmental work programs. All these are done to ensure that the mineral processing and ISAG operations are compliant with their ECC and environmental work programs.
The MMT is also completing their rounds of monitoring in the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, Aklan and Capiz this month. (MGB VI)
