NMA sees indications of environmental damage from sand extraction at Grankreek; villagers demand end to excavation work

During an inspection, the authority observed, among other things, a large water-filled excavation. According to the NMA, restoration of the site, as prescribed in the operating permit, had also not yet visibly been carried out. Village residents want sand extraction in their residential and living area to stop permanently.

The findings are contained in an NMA letter dated July 17, 2026, to the district commissioner of Saramacca. The authority inspected the site on July 6, after the district commissioner had requested an independent investigation. According to the NMA, there are indications that sand extraction has significantly altered the landscape and soil structure. The situation found may also affect the habitat of plants and animals and the safety of people and animals.

The NMA stresses that this was an exploratory inspection. No full investigation of the soil, water or ecology was carried out. One of the sand pits could also not be entered because access was blocked by a locked gate. That location could therefore only be assessed to a limited extent.

Village residents do not want new excavation work

Residents of Grankreek have long opposed sand extraction. According to them, the operations are close to the village and affect the area where residents hunt and fish. Captain Angelique Palmtak says the community has therefore decided to barricade the access road. “We do not want anyone coming here to dig, because we are the ones who suffer from it,” she says.

According to Palmtak, hunters now have to go further into the forest than before. Residents state that human activities have driven game away from the area. During its inspection, the NMA also recorded statements about reduced opportunities for hunting and fishing, but explicitly notes that it has not independently established these effects.

The residents believe that insufficient account was taken of their residential and living area when the permit was granted. They question how a permit for sand extraction could have been issued in that area while, according to them, their own claims to the land have not been settled.

Site restoration not yet visible

According to the NMA letter, the Ministry of Natuurlijke Hulpbronnen (Ministry of Natural Resources) granted an operating permit for the extraction of fill sand, effective September 5, 2024, and valid for three years. The authority writes that, according to information it received, the district commissioner had halted the operations about three months before the inspection following objections from local residents.

During the site visit, the NMA established that the restoration obligation under permit condition 5.3 had not yet visibly been carried out. The authority advises the district commissioner to submit its findings to the Ministry of Natuurlijke Hulpbronnen so that appropriate restoration measures can be taken by the permit holder.

Palmtak states that one of the pits was excavated deeper than permitted. The NMA letter does not confirm that specific claim. The authority does mention the extensive excavation and the restoration obligation that had not visibly been carried out. The question of exactly how the operations comply with the permit conditions also requires a response from the ministry and the permit holder.

The NMA further points to possible safety risks posed by the water-filled pit and to the possibility that stagnant water could become a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Whether those risks have actually occurred is not established in the letter.

For the residents, it is meanwhile clear that they do not want sand extraction to resume. “How can a concession be issued in our residential and living area?” Palmtak asks.