quot;Doe Run uses townspeople as pressure tactic", says Congressman Carlos Infantas
Published by MAC on 2006-02-02"Doe Run uses townspeople as pressure tactic", says Congressman Carlos Infantas
by Karen Martinez / El Informante
www.elinformanteperu.com/agenda.php?idarticulo=6226
(Peruvian) Congressman Carlos Infantas Fernandez (independent) denounced the Doe Run Company's use of the population of La Oroya to pressure the Government into approving its requested postponement of its Environmental Compliance and Management Program (PAMA).
Infantas commented on the arrival of a group, allegedly from La Oroya, which moved through the streets of downtown Lima demanding that the Government accept the Company's proposal to postponement a major part of its environmental commitments until 2011.
Infantas, congressman for the Junin Region, said it would not surprise him to learn that the group which visited the Plaza Bolivar today was in fact made up of Doe Run company workers and people paid to defend private interests.
He added that the covert participation of Doe Run became clear when the group visited the offices of the El Comercio newspaper, which had just published an editorial expressing concern for a postponement requested by a company which has not been in compliance with its PAMA for years.
"These tactics are unacceptable and resemble the Mafia. A company cannot use poverty as a tool to pressure the Government, but rather should comply with corporate social responsibility-- in this case, its environmental obligations", he stated.
The congressman recalled that the mining company has increased its pressure tactics after the results of the St. Louis University study which confirmed the high level of environmental contamination in La Oroya and Concepcion, in addition to the negative impact on the health of the population.
For this reason, Infantas demanded that the Government proceed with caution in evaluating the requested postponement and that it take into consideration the St. Louis University report, as the health of many people is at stake.
(translation by Alejandro Farrell, MOSAO-Mesa Tecnica)