Socavón in Zaruma: a problem that not only concerns illegal mining

The hole in the ground gets bigger. The sinkhole in the historic center of Zaruma already has a radius of 40 meters and the same depth. The hole that has swallowed two houses so far and that has caused the evacuation of some 300 people from an entire neighborhood on Colón Street has made it clear that one of the many tunnels that this city of 200,000 inhabitants has crosses under the ground , patrimony of Ecuador since 1990, under the threat of sinking by the ambition of the gold seekers.

The president of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining, María Eulalia Silva, points out that it is illegal activity that for years has eaten away at this land that she describes as a “Gruyère cheese” on which Zaruma sits. And they have done it not through workers who are subsisting in the face of adversity, he says. “Behind illegal mining there are big mafias with enormous economic power.”

The residents of this canton of the province of El Oro say the same, who have been denouncing for years that, despite the prohibition of extraction in the populated center, explosive detonations are heard daily.

Silva maintains that the state has already sealed tunnel gates, but this has not been enough to stop the illegal activity, which as such does not have an address, representatives or bank accounts. Thus, it is difficult to sanction those who perform unfair competition against formal mining, which pays taxes and meets social and environmental responsibility standards.

That is why the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining asks that the State as a whole, including the Judiciary, “identify, prosecute and punish” those responsible.

Proof that illegal mining is run by mafias, Silva says, is that “we have seen illegal mining camps in remote areas, putting machinery in sectors where there are no roads and can only be accessed with helicopters. The illegal mining mafias, which for example in Peru (bordering El Oro) handle more money than drug trafficking, can co-opt local authorities who often disguise themselves as anti-miners so that legal companies can go out and leave the land at ease to the illegals ”.

How to solve the Zaruma problem? Silva says that promoting legal mining, because only responsible progress improves the economy of the sector where it is based; and by punishing and repressing illegal activity, this and other types of related crimes such as arms and even human trafficking are avoided.

On a technical level, the geological engineer and teacher Osman Poma believes that in the case of Zaruma, the underground galleries should be surveyed, the dimensions known and a geotechnical study carried out, since only then could the type of support be considered, which It can be with cement, steel or another material, depending on what the study shows.

Meanwhile, illegal access should be sealed. With the state of exception declared in Zaruma by President Guillermo Lasso, a mobilization of resources is expected to carry out the studies and find a solution. “We are going to work from now on with geophysical engineering to solve this problem in the shortest possible time,” declared the Deputy Minister of Mines, Xavier Vera, to the BBC, which describes Zaruma as the heritage city of Ecuador that eats itself looking for gold.

The inhabitants of the sector demand immediate solutions. The doctor René Ortega Marquez, who lives a few meters from where the sinkhole occurred and had to evacuate, calls for a military intervention similar to the one that took place in Buenos Aires, Imbabura province, to try to stop illegal mining.

His neighbors still remember the school that was lost with the collapse that began in December 2016, when the first problems were registered in the urban area and that have not stopped since then.

In mid-2017, then-President Lenín Moreno declared a state of exception, expanded the mining exclusion zone to 823 hectares and offered four million dollars for immediate intervention. In 2018, through a popular consultation, metal mining was banned in all its stages in protected areas, intangible areas and in urban centers. But nothing was fixed.

The area that had been delimited to protect Zaruma was not expanded, but was reduced in 2019 from 823 hectares to the 177 that remain until now, on paper, because the reality is that no one respected the limits. That is why in this canton of Orense they ask the Lasso regime to expand the margin where mining should not be carried out and monitor that this is fulfilled.

The environmentalist Marco Encalada proposes at least five alternative solutions: combat the ‘sableros’, workers who use high-expansion dynamite for mining activity. That the mining exclusion area be extended. Ban deep mining activity. Restore the stability of the soil. Offer other alternatives for local economic and social development that combine the virtues of the area, such as coffee and tourist activities.

The actions to be taken are urgent. There are 47 more homes at risk in an area of ​​less than 300 linear meters (or two blocks) where there have been three subsidence since 2016. And it is that below that area, say the Zarumeños, there is a vein of gold that is longed for by some, but that could be total disgrace for many. (I)