The construction of the Vistula Spit canal has encountered the problem of what to do about a large seam of amber which is present in the area.
The amount of amber, which the geological data indicates to be in the region of seven tons, has yet to be accessed by robots and it’s not clear who might extract it. Back in 2019, the estimate for the seam was only around 1.5 tons.
Maciej Małecki, a deputy minister in the Polish Ministry of state Assets, admitted that the issue of control over the find was not resolved. But he also confirmed that the work on digging the canal was taking place over the seam, which means it will not be extracted at the present time.
Małecki added that no investor has applied to the Ministry of Environment for the rights to extract the amber and that the actual investor engaged in the construction of the canal, the state’s Maritime department in Gdynia, had the right to claim the amber.
The matter came to light as a result of an intervention by MPs from the Left caucus who wanted to know the size of the amber seam, who was going to extract it, and who would have the right to sell it.
