a new bill joins that of the congressman and president of the Energy and Mines Commission, Paul Gutierrez. The parliamentarian José Luna Gálvezfrom Podemos Peru, presented the Bill No 9259/2024-CR. Both proposals seek the extension of the disastrous Comprehensive Mining Formalization Registry (Reinfo) until December 2026.
LOOK: Three months before the Reinfo deadline expires, what is being planned by Congress?
Part of the arguments that Luna presents have to do with the fact that informal miners are unemployed, despite the fact that illegal miners who attack formal mining with total impunity also operate within that umbrella. It does, says Luna Gálvez, “…in order not to generate greater unemployment in the country and avoid actions of citizen insecurity”. And as a sign that he wants to expand protection against crime, he adds: “Our concern for the preparation of this measure focuses on: 1) Unemployment, generated by the persecution of thousands of miners who would have to change economic activity.” Has the congressman not realized the total failure of Reinfo, the patent of marque that even extortionists cling to?
There are more than 11,000 small and formal artisanal miners in Peru. It is a tiny number compared to the informal miners who still remain in Reinfo, reaching more than 87,000 registered, of which 79.3% of them are suspended.
INTERESTS
For the political analyst and columnist of this newspaper, Iván Arenas, personal interests take precedence in this type of bill. “Evidently, there are specific interests in some congressmen. There is a great incentive in this Congress that this bill not only benefits these illegal miners in the process of formalization, but also that Reinfo can continue with that maxim, of camouflaging illegal miners within the miners in the process of formalization.”he said to Peru21.
In this regard, Arenas reiterates that a better solution is the proposal of the Ministry of Energy and Mines on the Small Mining and Artisanal Mining Law, called the ASM Law, but which until now has not been discussed. “What Congress should have done is a great national debate on the ASM Law, but in the face of that the only possibility is the expansion of the Reinfo. That’s ok? No. I think it is a failure”he added.
He attributed the regional governments as one of the main pieces why Reinfo did not prosper, since they do not have the technical capabilities, human resources or political decision.
I KNEW THAT
·According to the SNMPE, Illegal mining is the first illicit economy in Peru, surpassing drug trafficking. It is estimated that 44% of all national gold production is illegal.
·The term for the registration of Reinfo ends on December 31, 2024, according to Law No 31388.
·The proposal by Luna Gálvez was presented on October 17.
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