A priest assigned to this city has been invited to present to German industrial stakeholders the case of the Tampakan copper and gold project of foreign backed Sagittarius Mines Inc.
Fr Gillarme B Pelino director of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Marbel will fly today for Berlin to provide inputs on the impact of the copper and gold exploration to the local population.
Mr B Pelino said that "Among others, I will detail the alleged human rights abuses suffered by the community even while the company is still in the exploration stage as well as the environmental and agricultural impact of the project."
Tribal residents in the mines development site have claimed restrictions on hunting activities, increased military presence and the desecration of the burial grounds of their dead among others.
Mr John B Arnaldo Sagittarius Mines external communications and media relations manager said that the company observes responsible business practices in dealing with the communities.
Mr Pelino said that industrial stakeholders in Germany which is a net importer of mineral products, want to know if raw materials produced or will be produced by mining companies are in accord with good business practices including respect to human rights.
At least 50 participants from developing and emerging economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America are expected to grace the event titled "Mines and More: Development or Poverty? on September 13th 2012. It is organized by the Miserior, the development arm of the German Catholic Bishops’ Organization for Development Cooperation, and the Brot für die Welt an agency for ecumenical development cooperation initiated by Protestant churches in Germany. Aside from Mr Pelino, two others from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil will speak about mining and its impact on the local population.
Organizers said that in the invitation letter that mining conditions "there concern all of us particularly because the vast majority of metallic raw materials in Germany are imported from developing and emerging countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Germany’s automotive industry will also be represented in the discussions.
May people living in poverty in these mineral-rich countries hoped that the extraction and export of these resources would bring wealth, or at least a reduction of poverty, to their country. But the extraction of raw materials is often accompanied by human rights violations, environmental problems and violent conflicts with only a few benefiting from the extraction of these resources.
The Tampakan project of Sagittarius Mines is touted as the largest known undeveloped copper and gold reserve in Southeast Asia. The estimated contained copper at Tampakan in total resources has risen from 13.9 million metric tons to 15 million MT while estimated contained gold has risen from 16.2 million ounces to 17.9 million oz.
The plan of Sagittarius Mines to go into commercial production has suffered a setback after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources rejected its application for an environmental compliance certificate, on the basis of the open-pit ban imposed by the South Cotabato provincial government.
Source - Bworldonline.com
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