On 8 May, after his inauguration as President of the Republic, Mrs. Laura Chinchilla, his promise to sign the decree a moratorium on gold mining. With this, filled with satisfaction the majority of the population believes that metal mining is not compatible with the nature of a tropical country like ours, nor with its model of economic and social development.
There are, however, two key elements that should not be overlooked amid the cheers of the signature and promulgation of the decree, and that, conversely, must be a slow and cold analysis, with appropriate scientific criteria :
The first element is striking is that few days before the change of power and having announced Dona Laura, who was to issue a decree of a moratorium, the Arias administration signed a decree a moratorium on the gold mining. Administration had lifted an indefinite moratorium governing since 2002 (Decree No. 34492-MINAE, March 18, 2008), and had granted the mining concession for the project Crucitas (Resolution R-217-MINAE 21 April 2008) and which had declared of public interest and national convenience this project (Decree No. 34801-MINAET, October 13, 2008).
This decree signed leaving the now ex-President Arias, said the moratorium only to gold mining in the open, leaving out the type of gold mining underground, pleasure, which is one that does not use cyanide or mercury, but extracting gold from river sediments, and other metal mining. It also includes a strange phrase: "All rights acquired before the publication of this decree shall be respected" without clarifying what kind of law and won in what form, which in terms of the current Mining Code, can be contradictory from the technically and legally.
The second element refers to the modification decree signed Dona Laura, for which there are several important observations:
1. Extending the moratorium issued by the Arias administration to also reach the metal mining type gold underground, and is limited to gold mining using cyanide and mercury.
2. It leaves out the mining of placer gold, which represents a potential danger to the Osa Peninsula where such mining would occur.
3. No rest declared moratorium on metal mining, such as silver, aluminum, copper, lead, chromium, nickel, manganese, uranium, of which the country, geological conditions, might have potential. Do not forget the statement of the College of Geologists of Costa Rica to the Legislative Assembly in March on the text alternative to the Mining Code in which signals the country's mining potential. With the decree as it stands, the mining companies will continue to seek exploration permits and mining concessions to metal for other metals than gold. It is clear that there is an inconsistency, since this type of mining is equal to or more powerful than gold mining.
4. Maintaining the wording used by the moratorium decree Don Abel Pacheco in 2002, and that clearly did not work with the Arias administration, noting that the moratorium is declared as "undefined." Given this, it is best to be consistent with the target, and noted that the moratorium stays until it has made a comprehensive review Mining Code and, based on an assessment of costs - environmental benefits of metal mining in the country, take a final decision on such national activity.
5. Finally, to keep the phrase "All rights acquired before the publication of this decree shall be respected" without clarifying what rights and how they are obtained, there is a risk that many of the nearly 40 cases of metal mining, 15 of them in the same Crucitas mining, Industrias Infinito SA, and another 3 in indigenous territories, do the same thing happened in 2003 and claimed, based on confusing wording of the Code Current Mining, have already acquired rights and therefore should be allowed to proceed with the formalities of exploration and mining. Much could have happened for almost 23 months-long survey of metal mining moratorium, enacted by the Arias administration.
As noted above, the moratorium decree signed by the lady president leaves open many doors for metal mining to continue giving in the country, which seems to contradict its commitment to ban mining moratorium by emergency decree.
In this perspective, it is appropriate to provide guidance to the near future, in which demand precious metals by TNCs, put your eyes on the valuable resources of the seabed and subsoil, where our country has enormous reserves consistent with strategic areas of play and variety of species.
Given this, we would make a passionate call to the new authorities to reconsider the decree signed on May 8, based on fundamentals more legal, technical and scientific, so it closes firmly and decide the likelihood of metal mining activity that could develop in the country under the present conditions.
I respectfully submit a proposal to decree that could be a basis for discussion and analysis in order to improve the mining moratorium decree in the country. URGENT APPEAL
GROUP BY COUNTRY
http://llamadourgenteporelpais.blogspot.com
1. Dr. Rafael Arce Mesén, geographer, Professor and Researcher, UCR
2. M.Sc. Mario Arias Salgado, Hydrogeologist, CIG, UCR
3. Dr. Allan Astorga, Geologist, UCR
4. M.Sc. Baltodano Javier Aragon, Biologist, Ceiba coeca
5. Dr. Nicolas Boeglin, professor, School of Law, UCR
6. M.Sc. Rolando Castro, Attorney, CEDARENA
7. M.Sc. Olga Corrales, Attorney
8. Mr. Gabriel Square, Lawyer, CEDARENA
9. M.Sc. Vanessa Dubois, Management Environmental FANCA / FUDEU
10. Dr. Rafael González Ballard, Attorney, Law Faculty, UCR
11. M.Sc. Raul Guevara, Attorney
12. Dr. Gustavo Gutierrez Espeleta, Biologist, Biology School, UCR
13. Dr. Jorge Lobo Segura, Biologist, Biology School, UCR
14. M.Sc. Oscar Lucke, Geographer, School of Geography, UCR
15. Ms. Patricia Madrigal, Attorney, CoopeSoliDar
16. M.Sc. Jorge Mora Portuguez, Attorney, FANCA / FUDEU
17. Dr. Eduard Muller, Chancellor, UCI
18. M.Sc. Mario Peña Chacón, Attorney, Law Faculty, UCR
19. Dr. Carlos Quesada Mateo, Civil Engineer, CCT
20. Dr. Guillermo Quirós, Oceanographer, A
21. M.Sc. Sagot Alvaro Rodríguez, Advocate, A
22. M.Sc. Vivienne Solís Rivera, Biologist, CoopeSoliDar
23. M.Sc. Luis Carlos Vargas Fallas, a specialist in water
24. M.Sc. Luis Villalobos, medical health professionals, researchers, UCR
0 comments:
Post a Comment