Hon. (Dr.) Dammika Patabendi - Minister of Environment

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answer is as follows.

¶ 02 (a) (i) Under Section 13 of the Mines and Minerals Act, No. 33 of 1992, as amended by Act No. 66 of 2009, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) is vested with authority to issue licenses for exploration, mining, transportation, trading, storage and export of minerals.

¶ 03 Further, under Section 28 of the said Act, those activities must be carried out under the authority of a license issued by the Bureau.

¶ 04 (ii) In issuing recommendations for gravel mining, recommendations are primarily obtained from the Urban Development Authority, the Department of Archaeology, and the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) in terms of Sections 30, 31 and 61 of the Act. If field inspections indicate the need to consult other institutions, such recommendations will also be obtained.

¶ 05 Also, in accordance with the Task List on Extraction, Transport and Trade of Minerals for the Construction Industry issued by the Presidential Task Force on Land Resources with Cabinet approval, the GSMB seeks the recommendation of the CEA when granting mining licenses.

¶ 06 (iii) Approval for gravel mining is granted by the GSMB upon completion of the recommendations cited under (ii) above.

¶ 07 (iv) Since the mining license issued by the GSMB contains conditions applicable to gravel mining, the GSMB is responsible for supervising whether mining is carried out in compliance with those conditions. After issuance of a mining license, site supervision shall be carried out by the mining engineers/field officers of the GSMB. In addition, the institutions that issued recommendations must monitor compliance with the conditions they have stipulated.

¶ 08 (v) Steps are being taken to amend the Act and to revise penalties to curb unauthorized mining and illegal activities.

¶ 09 (b) Does not arise.