Mt. Diwalwal mine site: Disaster-in-waiting

DAVAO CITY – Despite the billions of dollars its gold reserves are worth, the mining site at Mt. Diwalwal, Monka­yo, Compostela Valley is one big disaster waiting to happen.

“It has always been a danger zone. This time we found more ground cracks in the area which means the place is no longer stable,” Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau Region XI chief Edilberto Arreza said.

Arreza said they have already warned the more than 40,000 small-scale miners and their families to relocate to safer grounds especially with the onset of the rainy season.

“The residents refuse to leave the area. But we have always asked them to be very vigilant, that they should seek safer levels once there are signs of ground movement,” Arreza told The STAR.

Hundreds of miners have already died from landslides at Mt. Diwalwal since mining operations started in the area in the early 1980s. Several hundred other miners were also trapped inside the ill-constructed tunnels that caved in for the past years.

Arreza said an MGB team lately found a 15-meter wide fissure in the basketball court area which residents claimed was due to water seepage brought about by incessant rains for the past few weeks.

He said residents found cracks in certain parts of Puroks 4, 5 and 9 which already alarmed village officials.

The discovery of the new cracks prompted the MGB to conduct another geological assessment of the area and subsequently recommending the evacuation of residents to safer grounds.

The chaotic construction of the mining tunnels also reportedly contributed to the unstable grounds of Mt. Diwalwal.

Miners reportedly dug tunnels without any comprehensive plans, thus, causing most accidents in the area.