Brazil mining regulator squeezed by staffing, budget cuts, labour leader says
Resources are stretched so thin at Brazil’s mining regulator that officials have walked off the job, saying budget and staffing shortfalls are hindering oversight including safety.
The monthlong strike has halted services such as granting mining titles and permits, according to the public servants association at the agency known as ANM. Remaining staff is focused on tailings inspections in a nation hit by two dam disasters at Vale mines in recent years.
“The question is not if we’ll have another tragedy involving dam breaks, but when,” said Ricardo Pecanha, an ANM geologist who heads the labor group behind the strike.
Since 2010, the agency’s headcount has fallen by almost half to 664 people, or a third of levels required by law, with ANM officials paid 46% less on average than staff at other regulatory agencies, according to a presentation delivered to Brazil’s Lower House this week.
Brazil’s mining sector generated 250 billion reais ($52 billion) last year, paying 7 billion reais in royalties, but just one in a thousand companies were inspected, according to the presentation.
Illegal gold mining has already surpassed the area occupied by the formal industry in Brazil, yet ANM has only two people managing precious metal operations, Pecanha said. The agency “is heading toward a collapse,” ANM ombudsman Andre Marques told lawmakers this week.
The Mines and Energy Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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