NIGUA, San Cristóbal.- The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources intervened in the Aremax aggregates minewhich operated illegally in this municipality, despite having been permanently closed and in whose place a worker died last week while carrying out extraction work.
During the operation, the acting vice minister of Land and Water, Davis Aracena, explained that the company had been closed and sanctioned in September of last year for exceeding the area authorized for exploitation and for failing to comply with the technical criteria established in its environmental permit.
“In addition to the definitive closure, the owners of the company were administratively sanctioned, after it was proven that they violated the limits of the authorized polygon and that they did not carry out sustainable exploitation of the aggregates, as established by the environmental authorization granted,” said Vice Minister Davis Aracena.
The official also indicated that, since it is a company that has repeatedly violated the Environmental Law, it is now up to the Specialized Attorney for the Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources to proceed with the judicial submission, while the SENPA must maintain permanent surveillance in the area to prevent the mine from operating illegally again.
Likewise, the owners of the farm will be obliged to remedy the environmental damage caused in the intervened area.
He recalled that current regulations establish that any authorization for the exploitation of non-metallic mines obliges the concessionaire to carry out responsible extraction and, once completed, carry out an environmental remediation process that includes the restitution of the vegetation layer and the total reforestation of the impacted area.
For his part, Judge Francisco Contreras, prosecutor representing the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources, reported that they went to the scene to gather evidence that would allow the owners of the company to be brought to justice, pointing out that the situation has been aggravated by the death of an employee while carrying out extraction work, despite the fact that the mine was closed.
Also present at the operation were the director of the National Environmental Protection Service (SENPA), Brigadier General Ángel Alfredo Camacho Ubiera (ERD), and the environmentalist Luis Carvajal, who stated that the Environmental Commission he represents firmly supports this type of actions in defense of natural resources and in the prosecution of environmental crimes.
“It is evident that this company operated outside the technical criteria established by the environmental law for the exploitation of non-metallic mines, with the aggravating factor of doing so without permission. Our role in this case is to present a technical report to the Interinstitutional Table that serves as a basis for the decisions that will be adopted, although we already support any measure that sanctions those responsible for this environmental crime,” emphasized Carvajal.
It is important to note that The Interinstitutional Roundtable was created with the objective of supporting initiatives in defense of the environment and natural resources, as well as accompanying the authorities in the prosecution of environmental crimes.
The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources reiterated its commitment to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources and warned that it will not allow the illegal operation of extractive activities that put the environment and human life at risk, ensuring that it will continue to strengthen inspection operations and legal actions against those who violate current environmental regulations.
