The government wants to establish a Goud Autoriteit, also referred to as the Gold Board, to make the gold chain, from extraction to export, more effectively controllable. President Jennifer Simons announced this on Wednesday, September 30, during her annual address in De Nationale Assemblée (Suriname’s parliament). The authority is intended to help curb illegal gold trading, smuggling and informal gold flows.
According to Simons, legal, substantive and organisational preparations are currently being made. A bill must then be submitted to parliament. The Gold Board is therefore not yet an operational body.
“The scope of work of the Gold Board begins once the gold has been extracted and continues through to gold export,” the president stated.
The government wants both the lawful origin of the gold and the successive transfers to be fully traceable. This is intended to strengthen the formal gold chain and increase the sector’s economic contribution.
Greatest challenge in small-scale mining
Simons described the gold sector as crucial to the economy, employment and state revenues. According to her, oversight of multinationals is structured through the monitoring committee of the Ministry of Natuurlijke Hulpbronnen, but the greatest challenge lies in small-scale mining.
According to the annual address, a large part of that chain is affected by informal trade, inadequate traceability, fragmented responsibilities and bureaucracy. The government therefore wants to better regulate concession rights, curb unchecked growth and address the use of chemicals.
Following earlier initiatives to organise the sector, the government is aiming for sustainable reform of the entire gold sector.
Limits on illegality and environmental destruction
For 2027, Simons announced a stricter approach to crime, illegality and environmental destruction within the sector. The protection of Indigenous and tribal communities and their residential and living areas must take priority in this regard.
Elsewhere in the annual address, the president referred to the serious pollution of the Saramaccarivier. She said that the Nationale Milieu Autoriteit and supporting institutions have been instructed to close gold-mining companies found not to be complying with the rules.
The intended Gold Board must focus on oversight of the gold chain and exports. Simons did not explain what powers the authority will receive, how it will be funded or how cooperation with existing regulators will be organised. Nor did she mention an exact date for submission of the bill.
