The Provincial Mining Regulatory Board has received a complaint from a minority tribe about activities in a closed mining site located in their ancestral domain in Barangay Cabatuanan, Basay, Negros Oriental, provincial attorney Erwin Vergara said.

Tribal chieftain Rogelio Trono of Tribu Bukidnon Magahat lodged the complaint before the Governor's Office against Vice Mayor Macario Amorgente of Basay and his nephew, Rene, for extracting tons of pyrite in Sitio Cabigtian.

Trono said the loading point in Nagboalao, Basay has no permit and foreshore lease agreement.

Vergara said the PMRB will look into the allegations, to determine if the activity will dry up the wild duck sanctuary, and pollute the Pagatban river and beaches in Basay and Bayawan.

He added that the provincial government has given a 60-day special permit to clear the area of pollutants, and tailings from the former mining site that was closed almost 30 years ago.

The special permit was issued to remove 40,000 tons of waste materials that include copper concentrates, pyrite, among others, following the request of different agencies to address continuing pollution of the river, and earn revenues for the government and for rice fields to be productive.*JG

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