The Minister of Energy and Mines, engineer Antonio Almonte, announced this Tuesday that they work together with sectors that carry out mining activities in the country, in the elaboration of some modifications to the current Mining Law, which are in line with the foundation of responsible mining.
“At the initiative of the Ministry of Energy and Mines and under the encouragement and indications of President (Luis) Abinader, last week a
meeting was held at the CDEEE offices in which almost all the
representatives of the companies that are carrying out activities participated. mining companies, and that was a discussion session on the strategy that we were going to follow for the modification or introduction of some modifications to the current
Mining Law ”, he said.
When being interviewed in the television program “Esta Maana”, of channel 4RD, Almonte indicated that the Head of State gave the deadline this month for this project to modify the Mining Law to be delivered to him later to be submitted to the National Congress, anticipating that at the end of the year there can be a Mining Law that adjusts to current demands.
Questioned by Roberto Moncls and Karina Snchez Campos, the minister affirmed that the current Mining Law has many positive aspects in the legal framework that will not be touched in said modification.
“The Mining Law is from 1971, from that date to now, many things have changed. Institutional issues have changed, the role of mining in the economy of the people has changed, and the level of
awareness, understanding and attitude of citizens with regard to the environmental and social impacts of mining has also changed . All of these are elements that, together with technological innovation, must be part of a new mining law. ”, He explained.
The Minister of Energy and Mines said that much remains to be done in the country in terms of mining, taking into consideration the potential and diversification of mining, including non-metallic minerals and medium-scale minerals, which are spread throughout different parts of the country
"I do not think we have had a national policy or strategy in the past, which is what is needed, because otherwise we will always be at the expense of initiatives from international corporations, which are good, but they are not enough," he said.