Public still lacks complete and updated data: What about the mining waste cadastre?

Serbia's ambitious project to establish a public registry of mining waste, a 2.1 million euro initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Serbian government, is facing criticism over limited data accessibility. The website intended to host this registry, katastarrudraskogotpada.rs, has been largely non-functional for weeks, displaying only information about the site's purpose rather than the data it was meant to contain. The project's goal was to create an inventory and risk assessment of mining waste across Serbia, envisioned as both an internet application and a published book. However, the Ministry of Mining and Energy asserts that seven permits for mining waste management have been issued since 2023 and disputes some of the European Commission's claims regarding data availability. The ministry stated that Serbia has gained a clear picture of its mining waste, forming a basis for environmental analysis and future steps. Initially, the online portal was expected to cover 250 locations, but reports indicate it only contained data from 41 sites, with further information, such as the hazardous nature of the waste and its quantity, disappearing over time. The European Commission, responding to inquiries, stated that the registry remains publicly accessible, albeit primarily in paper form and requiring a formal request for information under Serbia's Freedom of Access to Information law. They also noted that field visits covered 250 inactive and abandoned sites, with results documented in the paper-based registry, while the online portal focused on 41 priority locations.

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The project supported field visits to 250 inactive and abandoned mining waste sites. The results of these visits are documented in the paper version of the cadastre. The online portal covers 41 priority locations.