Mineral conservation: Need a cure for the "resource curse"

It is said that natural resources are national assets, owned by all people, but in reality, mineral resources are falling into the hands of private individuals, not the State. That is the opinion of most mineral experts when talking to reporters of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper about the current situation of "mining enterprises mercilessly destroying resources."

According to many experts, mineral resources are falling into the hands of private individuals, not the State. (Photo: Hung Vo/Vietnam+)

So how can mineral exploitation enterprises comply with the strategy of sustainable development, poverty reduction, anti-corruption and environmental protection? In addition, what should the authorities do to help the country soon escape the "resource curse" as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the State management agencies: "Bleeding resources - are we helpless?"

Haunted by the “resource curse”

Opening the story of the “resource curse” in a conversation with the press that took place in early August, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Director of the Red River Delta Coal Project Management Board under the Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) emphasized: “It is said that resources are owned by the entire people, but in reality they are only owned by a group of interests.”

According to Dr. Son, for many years, mineral exploitation enterprises have only known how to dig mines with the mindset of "making the goat suffer the cow" (meaning doing the easy things, giving up the difficult things). This reality has led to enterprises only exploiting the surface, causing waste of resources and increasing environmental pollution for local people.

Meanwhile, “up to now, the State has not been able to control how much mineral output enterprises have declared. Therefore, the actual amount of minerals that enterprises have extracted remains unknown. This is also inevitable when the poorer and more miserable the people living around the mines are, the inversely proportional is the upward-arrowing wealth of the mine owners and enterprises,” Dr. Son worried.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, engineer Nguyen Dong Hung, Chief of Office of the Vietnam Geological and Minerals Association, said that resource management based on the method of public ownership is what gives rise to the most frightening group interests, because people are unaware of all sources of revenue, while the assessment of mineral resource reserves is unclear.

For example, in Yen Bai province - one of the provinces with the most gemstone mines in the country, looking at the vast white stone mountains, many people believe that this mineral resource will bring huge revenue to the locality. However, for many years now, the preparation of reserve assessment reports and mining license applications have been carried out and proposed by mining enterprises when making investment projects.

“Could this be a mistake in the exploration and assessment of reserves?” engineer Hung asked.

Through the story of mineral losses, Dr. Dao Trong Hung, an environmental expert at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, emphasized that for many years, Vietnam has had a big gap in determining reserves. He said that it is impossible to say that there are precious stones and minerals in the way that our country has gold forests and silver seas, but we must base on specific data to manage each point and area.

Dr. Dao Trong Hung also said that some localities are still maintaining the power to grant mines according to the “ask-give” mechanism, although the 2010 Mineral Law has introduced a more transparent mechanism of auctioning mineral exploitation rights. However, in reality, the implementation of this mechanism still faces many difficulties because according to the law, many mines are still licensed without auction.

Regarding financial pressure, economist Le Dang Doanh, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that according to current regulations, 70% of resource tax is paid to localities and 30% to the central government, but there is a lack of transparency in how these revenues and expenditures are used. In addition, the widespread licensing of mineral exploitation (of which 50% of licenses are issued by localities) is a violation of the law.

“This has led to corruption, environmental pollution, illegal mineral exports that are still very serious, and the gap between rich and poor is increasing in localities where minerals are exploited,” Mr. Doanh said.

Need to "tighten" mine management, transparency of revenue sources

Faced with the current unsustainable exploitation of mineral resources, at a recent regular press conference of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Prime Minister requested that leaders of provinces and cities be responsible to the country and their descendants in managing resources and exploiting minerals.

"If the current exploitation method is not effective, then let it be. Our future generations will be smarter and exploit it. Minerals must be exploited effectively for the sustainable development of the country," said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

From a scientist's perspective, Dr. Dao Trong Hung, an environmental expert at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, said that for mining activities to be truly effective and contribute to sustainable development, Vietnam needs to ensure transparency in businesses' revenue sources.

The vast mountains of precious stones in Yen Bai province have now been flattened by businesses. (Photo: Hung Vo/Vietnam+)

“Suppose that 20 years later, all the mines are closed, who will take responsibility, while the resources are exhausted and the environmental impact is still there, and who will be responsible for the consequences of natural disasters and flash floods?” Dr. Hung raised concerns.

Dr. Hung also emphasized that private enterprises declaring their mineral exploitation output is a very modern and open practice following the practices of developed countries. However, in our country, relying only on the self-awareness of enterprises is not enough, but there needs to be supervision along with the implementation of clear policies, decrees and institutions.

In addition, to avoid mineral losses, according to Dr. Hung, good management of mineral resources at the local level must also ensure continuous and complete assessments to adjust policy strategies accordingly.

Citing the “mineral curse,” economist Le Dang Doanh, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that it is time for Vietnam to increase transparency in mineral resource exploitation to share benefits among stakeholders, promote economic growth and reduce social consequences and frustrations.

According to Mr. Doanh, to develop sustainably from the mining industry, our country needs to participate in the Energy and Transparency Initiative (EITI). This is an initiative recognized by the United Nations to promote transparency in revenue sources, fight corruption and protect the environment in the process of enterprises exploiting mineral resources.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Quang Tu, Head of the policy advocacy alliance support group, emphasized that the transparency initiative in the mining industry is currently being used by many countries to effectively fight corruption.

Mr. Tu also affirmed that although this initiative is not a "panacea" for the mining industry, it at least helps improve the visible aspects, contributing to making the management and revenue and expenditure activities of mining enterprises more transparent.

“For that reason, Vietnam needs to join EITI to escape the resource curse, contribute to the effective exploitation and use of resources and sustainable development in the long term,” Mr. Tu recommended./.

According to Vietnam +