Residents Ask Minister Of Environment To Not Allow Mining Project

Residents ask Minister of Environment to Not Allow Mining Project

Thursday October 20, 2005

Redacción Diario Co Latino

Residents of the municipality of San Isidro, as well as members of the Environmental Committee of Cabañas and representatives of ADES and UNES, have asked the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to deny exploration permits for Canadian mining company Pacific Rim. The demands were presented yesterday in a letter to the Ministry which highlighted the negative impacts of the proposed project on the environment, economic activities and human health.

"We don't want them to construct the mine because it will take away the little water that we have," said Rosa Bautista, a resident of Cantón Izcatal, located near the exploration zone of the mine, and which suffers from a scarcity of water. The residents don't see any benefits coming from the mining project. "Certainly it won't bring employment because, out of the 40,000 inhabitants of the region, the project will provide only 300 jobs, and of the 500 persons in my community, only one will have work," says David Fuentes, resident of the village Sagrada Familia.

On the other hand, the mining exploration in Cabañas and Chalatenango is already being discussed in Parliament. National deputies, Tulio Mejía and Gabino Hernández, of the FMLN, introduced the subject into debate yesterday. "Transnational companies want to come into our towns to take away our natural riches, to contaminate our environment and cause serious damage to the health of our people" declared Tulio Mejía.

Gabino Hernández said that the mining exploration "does not represent any opportunity for development of our country, because the jobs created are few and the taxes paid to the central government and the localities only amount to 1% of profits."

The Commissions of Environment and Public Health will have to turn to the heads of the Department of Mining and Hidrocarbons in the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Environment in order to respond to legislators over the current status and conditions of the permits and the environmental impact of the mining projects.

Ricardo Cruz, deputy of the FMLN, says that experiences in the past should serve to reject these projects: "In La Unión and Morazán, German, Italian and Canadian companies caused much damage to the ecosystems and to the residents, among them my father and mother", he stated.