SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCALE GOLD ... - WWF

1.5 Root causes
Why is it so difficult to regulate and structure the SSM sector? A thorough analysis
involving all key stakeholders would be needed to acquire an in-depth understanding of
the root causes of the problems. At this point, it would be useful, however, to make a
number of general observations regarding causes of the problems in the sub-sector.
The government was overwhelmed by the second gold rush at a time when the nation was
facing serious political and economic problems. The new developments were difficult to
comprehend and the responsible government agencies were not equipped to deal with this
massive mobilization of manpower and equipment, far beyond the effective
administrative range of the government. The lack of response is often interpreted as an
intentional laissez-faire policy on the part of the government, but it is probably more
appropriate to acknowledge the absence of well-developed policy options to deal with
this „new‟ 5 phenomenon.
Between 1996 and 2000 an attempt was made to get a grip on the SSGM sub-sector and
to secure a reasonable government take from the sub-sector. The method that was
developed had a strong regulatory bias and a weakly developed support component (see
Chapters II and V). The enabling conditions for regulating the sub-sector, such as a welldesigned
zoning instrument and a partnering miner‟s organization, were absent. The
outcome of this effort further discouraged rather than encouraged administrators and this
may in part explain the lack of confidence of the administration in the sub-sector.
Minimal government returns from the sub-sector have left the administration without the
necessary resources and opportunities to reform and regulate the sub-sector.
We will argue in this report that this pessimism is unjustified. How could government
officials expect to control a highly dispersed sub-sector operating in remote locations
when the State never had an administrative and physical presence in the interior of the
country to begin with? The difficulties in controlling the sub-sector have arisen by
default, and not by design. Until the 1960s the State administration of Suriname was
limited to the coastal area, and to this day 75% of the national territory is beyond the dayto-day
administrative control of the State. The vast interior district of Sipaliwini,
however, does not have a capital city. The office of the District Commissioners of
Sipaliwini, the interior district where most of the gold mining takes place, is located in
Paramaribo on the Zwartenhovenbrug street.
How can the State control the sub-sector without a permanent presence in the interior
where most of the gold mining takes place? As long as the State remains absent from the
gold mining zones it will be very difficult to regulate and control the sub-sector. Even
5 To be sure, careful study of the administrative responses to the first gold rush at the end of the 19 th
century would reveal much valuable information. By the 1980s, however, these lessons of history had
faded into the background of the government‟s administrative memory.
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