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Greenpeace activists unfurl a banner in protest over the conduct of the 30-day test run which the Department of Energy and Natural Resources granted to Australian mining Lafayette last month.
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"Lafayette's 30-day test run which ends today marks the
beginnings of another imminent disaster on the seas around Rapu Rapu,"
said Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Beau Baconguis. In our view, the test
run has now been exposed as nothing more than a charade to pave the way for
Lafayette's untrammelled operations in Rapu Rapu," she added.
Background
The Australian mining company Lafayette was ordered to halt its operations late last year after two mine spills released cyanide and other contaminants from the mine and into the sea around the island, causing massive fish kills. Subsequent investigations by a Presidential Fact-finding Committee in April-May 2006 revealed admissions from Lafayette officials that the company had been mining beyond its capacity even while the structural safeguards meant to minimize environmental damage were not yet completed. The DENR, however, allowed Lafayette to continue operations despite these lapses by granting the company a 30-day test run on July 11, 2006.
Recent spills and more to come?
A leak occurred during operations two days into the test run, but the DENR was quick to dismiss this as a minor incident. Less than two weeks later on July 18, 2006, residents reported a fish kill in the island's Mirikpitik creek. Residents have since reported more fish kills in creeks leading out from the mine into the sea, but so far, aside from dismissing the incidents as results of "sabotage," there has been no active and convincing response on the part of the company and the DENR to verify and explain these reports.
"If it proved anything at all, this test run demonstrated very clearly that the government will do everything, including turning a blind eye to what is now shaping up as another disaster in the making. The pretence involved in the test run is so obvious, nobody is deceived by it," Baconguis stated.
Lack of transparency
Moreover, the heavy presence of military, police, and private security around the island, including in small, remote barangays [villages] located well beyond the mine's boundaries, belie DENR's and Lafayette's claims of full transparency during the 30-day test run. Monitoring and inspection by independent parties concerned about the negative effects of the mining operation are actively discouraged and even prevented.
David Andrade, a Greenpeace employee sent to investigate reports of a fish kill was detained at gunpoint while on public land - and his water samples were confiscated.
Meanwhile, in Rapu Rapu Island as well as in Legaspi, inquiries at local government offices regarding the composition of the DENR -appointed mine monitoring committee during the test run have been unsatisfactory.
"Controversies have shrouded Lafayette's test run from the beginning, but the most glaring of all is its total lack of transparency," said Baconguis, "This bodes ill for the future of the fragile marine environment that surrounds Rapu Rapu, and the people who depend on it - that is, unless the DENR finally acts in the interest of the environment rather than for myopic corporate and economic interests."
Background
The Australian mining company Lafayette was ordered to halt its operations late last year after two mine spills released cyanide and other contaminants from the mine and into the sea around the island, causing massive fish kills. Subsequent investigations by a Presidential Fact-finding Committee in April-May 2006 revealed admissions from Lafayette officials that the company had been mining beyond its capacity even while the structural safeguards meant to minimize environmental damage were not yet completed. The DENR, however, allowed Lafayette to continue operations despite these lapses by granting the company a 30-day test run on July 11, 2006.
Recent spills and more to come?
A leak occurred during operations two days into the test run, but the DENR was quick to dismiss this as a minor incident. Less than two weeks later on July 18, 2006, residents reported a fish kill in the island's Mirikpitik creek. Residents have since reported more fish kills in creeks leading out from the mine into the sea, but so far, aside from dismissing the incidents as results of "sabotage," there has been no active and convincing response on the part of the company and the DENR to verify and explain these reports.
"If it proved anything at all, this test run demonstrated very clearly that the government will do everything, including turning a blind eye to what is now shaping up as another disaster in the making. The pretence involved in the test run is so obvious, nobody is deceived by it," Baconguis stated.
Lack of transparency
Moreover, the heavy presence of military, police, and private security around the island, including in small, remote barangays [villages] located well beyond the mine's boundaries, belie DENR's and Lafayette's claims of full transparency during the 30-day test run. Monitoring and inspection by independent parties concerned about the negative effects of the mining operation are actively discouraged and even prevented.
David Andrade, a Greenpeace employee sent to investigate reports of a fish kill was detained at gunpoint while on public land - and his water samples were confiscated.
Meanwhile, in Rapu Rapu Island as well as in Legaspi, inquiries at local government offices regarding the composition of the DENR -appointed mine monitoring committee during the test run have been unsatisfactory.
"Controversies have shrouded Lafayette's test run from the beginning, but the most glaring of all is its total lack of transparency," said Baconguis, "This bodes ill for the future of the fragile marine environment that surrounds Rapu Rapu, and the people who depend on it - that is, unless the DENR finally acts in the interest of the environment rather than for myopic corporate and economic interests."
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