Enabling Environment for Social Accountability in ... - SASANet

khural chairs who served on the ORM board gradually withdrew from the organization, and were
subsequently replaced at the annual ORM meeting that followed, thus freeing up the organization to press
its demands for government action to protect the Ongi River system from further decline. Curiously, the
governors of Dundgovi and Umnugovi aimags, who also belong to the MPRP, maintained their support
for the organization. They may have realized the political implications of opposing such a groundswell of
support from among their local constituencies. Moreover, the ORM had, by this time, established a
rapport with highly placed MPRP leadership in UB.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CSO ACCESS TO AND PROVISION OF INFORMATION
Although there are other environmental factors, such as desertification and overgrazing, mining practices
in Mongolia have had devastating environmental implications. In 2002, the leadership of ORM
successfully lobbied the Ministry of Nature and the Environment to investigate the causes of
environmental problems in the Ongi River Basin. The study determined that mining had caused
environmental damage in the basin (Finding ORM 3). Heavy mining had diverted the Ongi waters from
their natural course, and the lack of effective restoration measures had impacted the drying up of the river.
Furthermore, the study revealed that 28 rivers in the 8 aimags were in danger of drying up (Ongi 2004:3).
Although the GoM study was critical to the ORM mission, the movement sought in 2002 to gain further
independent information about the current condition of the river system (Finding ORM 4). A study
conducted by ORM’s consultant at Mongolia State University concluded that as a result of the seven
ponds built along the Ult River by mining companies, the river could no longer flow into the Buruljut
River, one of the tributaries of the Ongi River. He also found 10 other examples of mining activities that
had diverted rivers flowing into the Ongi. Although there has been no formal response to these findings,
which were presented to key parliamentarians and the Deputy Minister of Nature and the Environment,
the study provides further documentation of mining company practices that adversely affect the
environment.
In Mongolia, 625 mining companies are registered to explore and mine mineral resources, Among the 307
that mine gold, 32 mining companies are licensed to operate in the Ongi River basin. Together, they use
20 percent of the region’s water resources (World Water Actions, 2004). The main environmental issues
surrounding mining in Mongolia are 1) no regulation of water use in the establishment of gold mines; 2)
use of antiquated technology by gold mining companies that involves creating dams and ponds; 3) weak
monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws, notably provisions on diversion of rivers,
requirements for rehabilitation measures after mining, and sanctions for noncompliance by mining
companies; and 4) mining practices that attract artisanal “Ninja” miners along the rivers, whose activities
are unregulated and therefore difficult to control by local government authorities.
“Ninjas” wear metal gear that earned them their name from the popular Ninja cartoon characters. They
dig ponds and deep shafts to divert river water and then use mercury to filter the gold, polluting the land
and water. Some public officials claim that the Ninjas alone are to blame for current environmental
problems. The chair of an aimag khural remarked that mining companies rehabilitate the land after
extraction, but Ninjas dig up this land looking for remnants of gold deposits. Aimag authorities, however,
may be complicit. For example, in Arvakheer they allegedly permitted, perhaps even encouraged, the
Ninjas to dig up shafts that a mining company had filled in as part of a restoration project. Aimag
authorities maintained that the Ninjas also have rights to mine and that this was “a complicated human
rights issue.” As a remedy, Ongi representatives recommended that regardless of whether the companies
or Ninjas were responsible, soum governors should be authorized to stop companies from operating the
following season if they fail to rehabilitate a mining area.
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