The Human Rights House Banjaluka sent comments to the Ministry of Energy and Mining of the RS today on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Geological Research with the proposal that the draft be either withdrawn from the further procedure or to be significantly refined and improved.
The Human Rights House believes that the proposed amendments seriously call into question property-legal relations between land owners and potential investors, the integration of local communities, as well as the enjoyment of the right to a healthy environment and the right to health protection.
The desire to discover mineral and other geological resources must not turn into abuse of the natural resources of the Republic of Srpska. The exclusion of local self-government units from the approval process for research, the centralization of the management of natural resources and the increase in the maximum permitted amount of mineral raw materials that can be taken for the purpose of testing, opens up space for abuses that benefit individuals and to the detriment of the community, as well as space for non-transparent mining and enrichment under excuse of geological research.
Comments are available here
