PALO, Leyte - The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) here said the people in Eastern Visayas are not yet ready for the entrance to the region of big industries, particularly mining firms.
NEDA Regional Director Buenaventura Go-Soco disclosed to Leyte Samar Daily Express that there is some resistance in the region regarding the mining firms and their activities.
Go-Soco said this could be attributed to the past experiences of the people in the region in the past where these firms took advantage of the rich natural resources in this part of the country.
“We might be able to attract mining firms in the future but it seems very hard to happen as there is some resistance in the region about the mining issue,” Go-Soco said.
He added that for mining firms to be given smooth entrance to the region would still take a long time.
According to him, there maybe a need for the region to have a lot of technological improvement before industries such as mining firms are admitted here.
He said the mining firms should also have that consciousness to really help the areas where they are located and make some initiatives that would prepare society for the establishment of mining firms.
But Go-Soco said the firms need to be patient enough because it’s going to be a long process.
Go-Soco said mining could be a big contributor to the economy of the region because “we have so many minerals here waiting to be tapped.”
The only problem in the region is the strong opposition coming from the people because these firms were also not able to convince a lot of people here that what they’re doing will not destroy the environment.
“The people have yet to be convinced that mining will not cause flooding and other long-term damage to animal life or floral fauna like what happened in the Bagacay mines in the past,” Go-Soco pointed out.
Go-Soco said that the logging could also be a big contributor to our economy because of our rich forest reserve but it is also being barred by some oppositionists because a lot of people are not yet convinced that forest development is something that can be responsibly done in this region because of past experiences also.
