What will happen if a new law is adopted in Republika Srpska (RS) that foresees geological research, and which is proposed by the government there?
The answer is in the new draft law, according to which investors will be able to mine legally, for example, up to 500 truckloads of coal without the consent of the local community and without an environmental impact study.
If the law is passed, only the earnings on mined coal in that case would be 1,400,000 BAM (slightly more than 700,000 euros) at the current price of coal exported from Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH).
However, even before the parliamentary session, citizens and environmental associations fear that the proposed solutions will pave the way for the “abuse” of mineral resources in this BiH entity.
In the Entity Government, which is the proposer, the draft law is explained in the way that “there are not enough experts in local communities who can decide on research”.
In the RS, there are currently nine explorations of potential deposits of mineral ores such as coal, iron or lithium, according to the Cadastre of approved exploration areas and approved exploitation fields in the RS.
What is in the Draft Law?
In the provisions of the law, it is foreseen that the investor is allowed to mine 50 times more ore for analysis than was the case until now.
Entity Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic, when asked why the existing law is being changed, says that “the state is doing research to know what it has at its disposal”.
“They have geological maps, there is also a geological institute that archives all that data. And there is a long period before the exploitation itself. Research cannot harm anyone and cannot harm the local community, nor the city, nor the municipality, nor the people who live there.” Viskovic said.
However, he did not explain why the quantities of ore required for analysis are increasing, nor why the responsibilities of local communities and environmental impact studies are being abolished, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
