And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: Julio Cesar Centeno <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Indigenous Knowledge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TAKE CANADIAN GOLD MINE TO COURT MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------DF5C17012777E85E20A979F3" X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN One of the worst disasters in gold mining history took place in august of 1995 in the forests of Guyana. A tailing pond of the canadian Omai gold mine broke, dumping over three billion liters of toxic waste into the Esequibo river. Local people directly affected by thespill organized themselves, and took the mining company to a Canadian court. In the coming days, they are also expected to file a lawsuit against the Omai gold mine for 100 million dollars, this time un Guyana. The following letter was sent by the people of the Esequibo river to Cambior Inc. in Montreal, with copies to the the Canadian Foreign Minister and the President of Guyana. August 17, 1999 President Louis P. Gignac Cambior, Inc. 800 Rene-Levesque Blvd. West, Suite 850 Montreal, Quebec H3B 1X9 CANADA Dear Louis P. Gignac: We, hereby, inform you of our demand for clean water. We and our ancestors have been drinking, fishing, and bathing without fear in the Esequibo river for generations, some for 1000s of years. This has all changed since the Omai gold mine, which your company owns and operates, began operations. Our once pristine river here in Guyana's rainforest, which scientists say is the largest intact section of virgin rainforest left in South America, is now polluted. We have learned that some of the toxic chemicals that your mine is putting into our water will remain in the environment for hundreds of years. The waste being produced at your mine is making us sick. Our people are suffering from unexplained illness among which are skin diseases, vomiting, diarrhea, eye problems, and headaches. Long and hard suffering people are told there is nothing that can be done. There have even been some reports of death. We believe that this is due to your mine because we did not experience so many problems among so many people before. If you do not believe us, perhaps because we are poor people from a poor country, then maybe you will believe the reports of Dutch soldiers from the Netherlands who were training on the river. They, too, suffered from skin rashes and disease for the short time that they were here. We are also the victims of the Omai gold mine disaster of August, 1995, in which your mine released 3.2 billion liters of toxic water from a ruptured tailings pond and dam into our Esequibo river. Yet this was not the first release of poison into our water nor the last. In March of 1995 there was a spill. You said that the mine was safe. It was not. In May of 1995 there was a spill. You said that the mine was safe. It was not. Before the August 1995 spill you also said the mine was safe. We then had one of the worst environmental catastrophes in gold mining history. Almost beyond belief, your mine restarted in February of 1996 unilaterally deciding to continue to put poison in our water in total disregard of our health, safety, and welfare. Once again, you tell us that it is safe but we do not believe you and we know it is not true. Not then and not now. This letter is notice that we do not intend to accept your poison anymore. We are asking our courts, our fellow citizens, and the global community to help us secure our rights to clean water and a healthy environment. To these ends, a class action lawsuit was brought in Canada and is now being instituted in Guyana for the purpose of: (1) Securing a guaranteed supply of clean water (2) Compensation for the pain and suffering that your mine is causing (3) Restitution of the profits your mine has made at the expense of our rights to clean water (4) Remediation and clean up of our once pristine environment We are willing to work with you to find a mutually acceptable solution to this problem. However, we will not compromise the health of our people, elders, and children and demand our human and birth right of clean water. A successful resolution to this conflict, therefore, will be based on the simple fact that water is more valuable than gold. Sincerely, People of Esequibo, Guyana cc: His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana New Garden Street, Bourda Georgetown GUYANA Canadian High Commission Young & High Street, Kingston Georgetown GUYANA Hon. Lloyd Axworthy Minister of Foreign Affairs Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade 125 Sussex Drive Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2 CANADA -- ************************** Julio Cesar Centeno, PhD PO Box 750 Merida - VENEZUELA Tel: Intl+58-74-714576 Fax: Intl+58-74-713814 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ciens.ula.ve/~jcenteno/ ************************** Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
