Sub titlul "77 de locuitori din Rosia Montana sunt de acord cu continuarea proiectului minier din zona", Radio Romania Actualitati anunta azi dimineata ca:
"77 de locuitori din Rosia Montana au semnat o scrisoare publicata astazi de cotidianul britanic 'The Guardian' prin care pledeaza in favoarea continuarii proiectului minier inceput de compania canadiana. In scrisoarea deschisa adresata actritei britanice Vanessa Redgrave, care s-a declarat impotriva acestui proiect, cei 77 de locuitori afirma ca a condamna profesia de minier fara nici o alternativa pentru dezvoltarea pe termen lung si mediu inseamna a condamna viitorul oamenilor de acolo. Semnatarii scrisorii mai declara ca o mina moderna va permite regiunii sa aiba acces mai bun la ingrijirile medicale, la alimentarea cu apa potabila si va crea locuri de munca."
La ultimul recensamant, populatia din Rosia Montana numara 4146 de locuitori. Un calcul simplu ne arata ca cei 77 de semnatari ai scrisorii deschise (publicata ca anunt publicitar "platit cu multa bucurie de Gabriel Resources in numele locuitorilor Rosiei Montane") reprezinta doar 1,85% din totalul populatiei locale. Articolul din 'The Guardian' (pe care il postez mai jos) vorbeste de 2000 de locuitori. In cazul asta, cei 77 inseamna 3,85%. Cat de reprezentativi sunt cei nici 4%?
"The company claims most villagers are in favour of its plans." Pai daca in acceptiunea companiei canadiene 3,85% reprezinta majoritatea ("most villagers"), dati-mi voie sa ma indoiesc serios de cunostintele matematice ale inginerilor si de toate calculele si studiile facute de Gabriel Resources si sa imi exprim ingrijorarea fata de o eventuala punere in practica a planurilor lor.
"When I see Vanessa Redgrave sitting there with all the wealth and all the hope for the future...", zice presedintele Gabriel Resources, acelasi Alan Hill cu care ne asasineaza zilnic televiziunile la ore de maxima audienta. Vorba renumitei actrite, probabil ca Alan Hill si compania sunt destul de disperati daca au ajuns sa o critice intr-un anunt publicitar in care fac reclama unui proiect care "… won't save Rosia Montana. It won't save this area that will be poisoned for decades and decades."
----------------------------
Vali
An aristocratic title is not enough to ensure a noble behaviour. A person's greatness comes from acknowledging the mistakes and agreeing to correct them.
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
Redgrave centre stage in campaign to halt Romanian gold mine that has split village
· Company plans Europe's biggest open-cast site
· Actor dedicates film award to group fighting project
Jeevan Vasagar
Friday June 23, 2006
The Guardian
Foreigners have cast a predatory eye over Rosia Montana since the Romans came to dig for gold, leaving mining galleries and temples behind. But the latest battle over a mountainside in central Romania pits a grande dame of British theatre against a Canadian mining firm which plans the biggest open-cast gold mine in Europe.
Vanessa Redgrave, advocate of liberal causes from Vietnam to Chechnya, this month dedicated her lifetime achievement award at the International Transylvanian Film Festival to a local community organisation, Alburnus Maior, which is campaigning against the mining company Gabriel Resources. "Our planet is dying and we have no right to destroy an ecosystem," she told the festival crowd.
In return, Alburnus Maior gave her a square metre of land in the village, creating a physical and legal tie. It plans to make similar gifts to other artists and writers who join their cause.
Gabriel Resources, a sponsor of the film festival, was outraged by the actor's remarks. The company's response - and that of the villagers backing it - comes today in an advertisement in the Guardian. The "open letter" tells Redgrave: "If you help a small group of outsiders stop the new mine, without having any connection with our community, they'll leave our village and go on to the next battle against development. You will have your one metre of land in our village - and your fine home in London. Where will we go? How will we live?"
The ad - which proclaims it is "happily paid for by Gabriel Resources on behalf of the people of Rosia Montana" - contains 77 signatures. But campaigners say the mine will cause pollution, destroy biodiversity and pulverise four mountains to create the open pits, as well as ravaging Roman mining galleries and prehistoric sacred places. A village of 2,000 people faces demolition and Alburnus Maior claims families who have refused to sell up may face expropriation.
The company claims most villagers are in favour of its plans. It says the area suffers from 70% unemployment - up from 50% after the recent closure of a communist-era gold mine -and desperate poverty and claims its "model" mine will employ 1,200 during construction and 600 during operations, creating a further 10 indirect jobs for each direct one in service and catering industries.
The company paints a picture of Dickensian poverty, citing a family whose children must take turns to walk to school because there is only one pair of shoes.
"You've got to look at what the village is now," said Alan Hill, the company's British-born president and chief executive. "Half the villagers don't have running water, three-quarters have an outside toilet ... When I see Vanessa Redgrave sitting there with all the wealth and all the hope for the future, and see families in Rosia Montana with nothing, it just seems so unfair."
The firm also hopes to make big profits. If it goes ahead, the mine will start yielding gold in 2009. It will run for 16 years, extracting 500,000 ounces of gold during the life of the mine. Silver will be a byproduct - there are thought to be 52m ounces of it beneath Rosia Montana.
But Calin Capros, 37, claimed the company was tearing his community apart. He blames the Canadian company for the collapse of his pharmacy business. When resettlement began, the elderly, the core of his customer base, were first to leave. He was offered 1bn Romanian lei (£19,000) to sell his shop and apartment, but refused.
Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "We did not agree to sell, because we as a family are very united and if we had done this it would have split us up. We are under psychological pressure. We have seen our relatives leaving, we have see our neighbours leaving."
Many villagers have come to depend on the firm. Marius Todor, 30, sold up in 2003 and used the money to buy a house in a town 15km away. He started working for the company as an administrator a year later. "This is a very good way to improve our lives. It is a good chance for the area," he said.
As well as money for relocation, an average of $40-$50,000 (£21,600- £27,100) for a home, the firm says it will build a "model" village nearby, with a school, library, community centre and plaza. "I'm offering them hope," Mr Hill said.
Redgrave told the Guardian: "I can quite understand why some of the villagers have accepted money. But it won't save Rosia Montana. It won't save this area that will be poisoned for decades and decades."
She added: "I'm amazed that they should be so desperate as to put in an advert criticising me, but it's for their shareholders back in Canada."
Stefania Simon, legal counsellor for Alburnus Maior, said the NGO was proud of its association with Redgrave: "She's a very respected person and she's very strong in her beliefs. It's exactly the kind of support we need for the campaign."
The campaigners do not deny the region is troubled. Ms Simon said: "Unemployment is a problem, but it will not be solved by mining. This is a solution for the short term."
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
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