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28 de marzo de 2011 | Noticias | Derechos humanos | Industrias extractivas
Watch out!
Colombian organizations on the alert over confusion about transnational mining project
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The Colombian government said in mid March that Canadian company GreyStar had withdrawn its request to exploit gold in Santurban, Santander department, in a project known as Angostura. The company explained it had not withdrawn its application, but that it would study alternative options for the project. The different information bothered social organizations, which oppose the project.
The Colombian Network Against Large Scale Transnational Mining just issued a press release titled “Wastelands without megamining: an obligation of the Colombian authorities”. The network, which comprises 50 social groups “rejects the dishonesty of Greystar corporation, which after announcing its decision of withdrawing the Angostura project, misinforms and shocks the citizens by backing out and publicly discrediting the minister of Mining and Energy, Carlos Rodado Noriega”.
It was Rodado who revealed on March 17 that he had received a communication from GreyStar’s CEO, Steve Kesler, informing that the company was withdrawing its request for technical and environmental licenses for gold exploitation in Santurban. The minister had met the company’s executives and shareholders in Toronto, Canada, a few days before. He had told them that the Colombian law bans all kinds of mining exploitation in wastelands.
“In no way is mining in wastelands possible under the Colombian legislation” said Rodado, quoted by Colombian newspaper Portafolio.
On March 18, GreyStar said it had been misinterpreted and issued a press release. It clarified that it did not mean to “withdraw” its project in Angostura but it would consider “alternative options”. The company said it would continue working with the minister of Environment, Housing and Land Development, and with the Ministry of Mining and Energy.
Both ministries have opposing views on the Angostura project, says Colombian newspaper El Espectador: The Mining Ministry did not want to set the example by granting the license, while the Minister of Environment supported the signing of the license.
Different social organizations that have opposed Angostura, which are part of the Committee in Defense of Santurban Wasteland claims that would compromise drinking water supply for over two million people.
The Colombian Network Against Large Scale Transnational Mining welcomes the work done by the Committee in Defense of Santurban Wasteland and claims that social resistance has forced GreyStar to withdraw its license application for Angostura project. The network rejects the dishonesty of the Canadian corporation. It accuses GreyStar of being misleading by causing confusion about its real aspirations in Santurban and by presenting a project with great technical shortcomings.
The Colombian social organizations are satisfied with the decision of the Ministry of Mining and Energy of recognizing that mining in wastelands is illegal. But they reported that over 100,000 hectares of those Colombian lands are already affected by almost 400 mining licenses. GreyStar exploration works have affected Santurban.
For this reason, the Colombian Network Against Large Scale Transnational Mining demands Juan Manuel Santos right-wing administration to comply with the laws that prevent mining in the wastelands, and to start taking the necessary actions to withdraw the licenses already granted in those territories.
