Press Release
5 November 2018
Philippine Delegation Visits North Sulawesi for Mercury-Free Best Practices Training – PERS Project initiates South to South Exchange for best practices in ASGM
5 November 2018, Manado City – A delegation of Philippine officials and small-scale gold miners from South Cotabato, Mindanao are in Manado this week as part of an initiative developed by the Artisanal Gold Council through the Program Emas Rakyat Sejahtera (PERS), which aims to help the provincial government understand and address issues revolving around artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
The initiative is called the South to South Exchange Project which will take place on 5-7 November, 2018. The initiative is done in partnership with BAN Toxics an environmental justice non-government organization based in the Philippines, working to address mercury pollution in the ASGM sector.
Indonesia and Philippines have enjoyed strong ties culturally and economically. The increasing cross-border trade envisioned under the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-Timor Leste East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMPT-EAGA) partnership framework is a recent example of this and has also become a strong focus for the North Sulawesi Government. Building from the strong ties and under the BIMPT EAGA framework that the South-to-South Exchange was conceived.
Both countries are straddled with a burgeoning ASGM sector and share the same issues: rural economic development potential that is hobbled by mercury-use, landscape degradation and other health and social challenges. Despite the risks and driven by poverty and lack of economic opportunities, hundreds of thousands of Indonesians and Filipinos still take their chances in labouring under very difficult conditions in thousands of informal sites across both countries.,
“The visit of Philippine officials and miners validates the pioneering work of the Program Emas Rakyat Sejahtera,” said AGC Indonesia Program Manager Richard Gutierrez. According to him, “The PERS project is able to set up a mercury free processing system in Tatelu that can be an Indonesian best practice contribution to South East Asian ASGM. The strong commitment and support of the national government and the provincial government of Sulawesi Utarra have made this event possible.”
Reynaldo San Juan, Jr., BAN Toxics Deputy Executive Director, explains that, “Hosting the South to South Exchange initiative, in cooperation with the AGC and PERS project in Tatelu, Manado is a huge honour and will help draw attention to, and support for, the pioneering work of PERS to address the significant problem of mercury use in small scale gold mining sector and formalization in Indonesia.”
“In turn, this will act as a catalyst to increase stakeholders’ support and help to empower many communities and families involved in small gold mining sector in both the Philippines and Indonesia,” said San Juan.
The South-to-South Exchange initiative is supported by Global Affairs Canada and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. ##
For inquiries, please contact:
Dawn Po Quimque
Communications Officer, BAN Toxics
Email: dawn@bantoxics.org
Landline: (02) 930-0639
Phone: +63 917 358 4589