|
Stop the nickel mining project on Mindoro Island, Philippines
This is the name of a facebook group dedicated to stopping the project. Please search for it and join the group, here are some excerpts from the wall.....
'The Acting Secretary of the DENR for barely a month has been replaced by a DENR bureaucrat, Mr Horacio Ramos, who has been an aggressive promoter of large scale mining in the Philippines.
Since the short-timer Acting Secretary was not able to reinstate the Intex ECC after the Congressional hearing on DENR's flawed proc...ess, the executive branch FOI(friends of Intex) has to demonstrate the value of their connection---a pro-mining bureaucrat!'
'A anti-mining barangay(smallest political unit) captain in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro was shot dead by two unidentified assailants on Wednesday morning, police said.Victoria town is where Intex Resources is headquartered in Mindoro Island. In early 2000, there was also an anti-mining lady lawyer shot dead and up to now nobdy has been punished for that killing.'
'A fast partial comment on Norwegian Ambasador's report re Intex is provided. :-
CORRUPTION:
When DENR's Sec. Alvarez decision that Intex(previously Mindex) site is illegal and prohibited by the 1995 Mining Act was summarily overturned by new Sec. Defensor under Pres. Arroyo( who was visited by Intex CEO), SOMETHING happened.
When the new Acting Sec. Quinto was poised to reinstate the revoked Intex ECC, in disregard to "due process" set up by former Sec. Atienza, after Intex meet with Pres Arroyo in Copenhagen, SOMETHING happened.
There could not be any proof of corruption as these transactions are safely hidden so no supported allegation of corruption can be raised. But something is rotten in Oslo that we can smell it all the way to Mindoro!
... See more
CONSULTATION:
Intex has exhibited the old colonial trick of "divide and conquer' by consulting with persons they have won over with gifts. Intex has floated questioners where if the answer checks or says Intex the responder gets P200, if the responder does not say Intex, he or she gets P50.
OPENNESS:
Intex does not openly discuss the aggravation that surface mining will do to the regular monsoon flooding. Intex is shrewdly open on the benefits but silent and closed on the death and destruction increase due to mining.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
The Norwegian embassy elected to be silent on the most important issues because they know what they are and it is not in favor of Intex. Experts have already spoken and openly discussed that the open pit mining will wreck havoc on the environment , wipe out endemic species and result in climate change.
The Mangyans may look dumb but they are not stupid. '
'This time to June 30, 2010 is the best and worst of times for the people of Mindoro with regards to mining. The political candidates are playing it coy not wanting to be labeled pro-mining so as not to lose a lot of anti-mining votes but at the same time kowtowing to Intex for money support for their respective campaig...'
'The Norwegian Embassy in Manila released the Ambassador's report on Intex Resources and the Mindoro Nickel Project. ( copy is available on Facebook and the Cybermovemet to Stop Mindoro Nickel Project):-
In the Embassy report, it is clear the t the Ambassador is looking at the facts with one eye closed and definitely squinted towards Intex which is a a Norwegian company he is trying to promote and protect It is understandable because Intex will repatriate the dollars of profit back to Norway. There will be rejoicing back in Oslo for Intex, the Ambassador and the embassy personnel for a job well done indeed.
The embassy has superior knowledge of what Intex is doing to subvert the Government officials behind the appearance of being law abiding. Intex use, as justified, the illegal interpretation of the 1995 Mining Act by Sec Defensor.He reversed the watershed prohibition defined by Sec Alvarez to allow Intex( was then Mindex) to mine in Mindoro. Then Intex evaded and avoided the law passed by both Mindoros on the 25 year mining moratorium based on their reasoning that these laws are not retroactive.
This embassy report is full of gaping holes larger than the mud puddle holes on Mindoros' provincial roads after the floods and the monsoon rains:... See more
---It failed to mention that the mountains, which took hundred of years to get to where they are today, will never recover after Intex is done digging them out. Gone will the plants,trees and endemic species using this area as habitat. No amount of mitigation will restore what will be lost to Mindoro's patrimony and posterity.Instead, we will be left with aggravated floods and climate change because the dugged-up area cannot absorb the carbon dioxide that it used to.
---It failed to mention the visual pollution that the humongous conveyor tubes will cause as they wind down from the mountains to the coastal town of Pola.
It failed to mention the risks of contamination,pollution and marine life destruction when the High Pressure Acid Leaching plant is installed in the coastal area of Pola.
---It failed to mention the possible effects of mining effluents on the center of the Corral Reef Triangle at the Verde island passage.
No mention is observed in this report of the probable
"win-win " proposition from the Norwegian Ambassador where astute politicians and the shrewd Intex Resources Inc. will amass riches while the Mindorenos will suffer the net detriment of aggravated floods and climate change.
There was also no mention of the possible offer of a Cathedral to be built on the site of his choice and the P10 million allowance, should a priest change his missionary position! '
|
Register
