President Jennifer Simons says that the Nationale Milieu Autoriteit (NMA, National Environment Authority) and supporting institutions have been instructed to close gold-mining companies that do not comply with the rules. In her annual address on Wednesday, September 30, she linked that instruction to the serious pollution of the Saramacca River and inadequate environmental enforcement.
According to Simons, the pollution must prompt a structurally different approach to oversight of the gold sector. Legislation alone is insufficient, she said, if monitoring and actual enforcement are lacking. “What has happened in the Saramacca River must not be something after which we simply return to business as usual. It must be a turning point,” the president said in De Nationale Assemblée (DNA, Suriname’s parliament).
The president did not state which companies could be considered for closure, how many violations have been identified or which closures have already been carried out. In her address, Simons also did not identify a specific company as the cause of the river pollution.
Consequences for food and livelihoods
The president stressed that, for communities along the river, the pollution goes beyond an environmental problem. The river is a source of water and food and has been part of their daily lives for generations. When residents can no longer trust that food source, this could, according to her, have long-term consequences for their food security, livelihoods and traditional way of life. Simons said instructions had been given to support the local community during this period. She stressed that the implementing institutions must provide that support as quickly as possible.
Stricter oversight of gold mining
According to the president, environmental enforcement has fallen seriously short for decades. The government is therefore working to strengthen the institutions that are required to oversee the gold sector. For 2027, Simons also announced a further 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.
The government wants to better regulate concession rights, curb uncontrolled growth and address the use of chemicals. Small-scale gold mining in particular faces problems, according to the annual address, with informal trade, inadequate traceability and fragmented responsibilities.
Gold authority in preparation
Part of the reform is a gold authority to be established by law, also referred to as the Gold Board. It must make the gold chain more controllable from the moment the gold is mined through to export.
The government wants to be able to track the origin and subsequent transfers of gold, curb illegal trade and smuggling, and increase the sector’s economic contribution. According to Simons, legal, substantive and organisational preparations are being made, after which a bill will be submitted to the DNA.
