SoCot illegal miners, now legal workers - PEMO

KORONADAL
CITY - To
prevent them from going back to their illegal activity, former hydraulic miners in Tampakan, South Cotabato will be given
sustainable alternative livelihood by the provincial government. The
Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO) is now on the process of
consolidating the project proposals of possible beneficiary for submission to the concerned government agencies. Siegfred
Flaviano, PEMO’s officer-in-charge, said that the Technical Education Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) and the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is willing to give livelihood
trainings to the illegal banlas”
miners. We
are on the process of preparing the project proposal for long term and
sustainable livelihood, submit it to agencies that can provide livelihood
opportunities like the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that has a
bigger budget,” Flaviano told DXOM FM Koronadal Wednesday. With
the intensified the local government’s campaign on hydraulic mining, at
least 200 illegal miners in the villages
of Pulabato, Danlag and Tablu in Tampakan have lost their livelihood. To easily avail the government’s livelihood program, illegal miners from each
barangay were asked to establish their own cooperative. Flaviano said most of them wanted
small rice retailing stores, food
processing business and ornamental plants growing and selling. Displaced
hydraulic miners are now helping in the construction of government projects in
their villages as benefeciaries of the emergency employment program of the labor
Department . Their
first job was to demolish illegal structures
they built and destroy their own illegal mining paraphernalia. We
would like to ensure that illegal 'banlas' miners, will have alternative source of income, once the
60 day emergency employment program of DOLE will end,” he said. Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressured
jets of water to dislodge rock material.He said in the placer of mining gold or tin, the resulting water sediment
slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold which is more harmful to the environment.