and this is one of them
A small Canadian company with no experience in mining decides to take over a village in Romania and blast the place with dynamite, leaving cyanide polluting the air and waterways, with total disregard to the wishes of the approximately 2000 inhabitants, who are in the process of being relocated to an uninhabitable valley with no water. For goodness sake, these guys are subsistence farmers, they need water and arable land. Oh, and did I mention they are doing this illegally?
And why? For Money. Well, gold, to be precise, but ultimately it's greed. The churches and cemeteries, cultural and archaeological treasures, natural features are all of no worth. Five mountains will be blasted away. A massive dam containing the toxic waste will be constructed. All for the sake of money.A small Canadian company with no experience in mining decides to take over a village in Romania and blast the place with dynamite, leaving cyanide polluting the air and waterways, with total disregard to the wishes of the approximately 2000 inhabitants, who are in the process of being relocated to an uninhabitable valley with no water. For goodness sake, these guys are subsistence farmers, they need water and arable land. Oh, and did I mention they are doing this illegally?
Well, it might not. There is huge resistance and I am hopeful for the people of this region that Rosia Montana will remain. I hope the young lad who bought some mountain bikes and is trying to set up a tourist venture offering mountain biking tours is successful. I'd like to think the people attempting to engage in agro-tourism will attract people to see their villages, which are essentially a live working museum - these people are living exactly as their forefathers lived 200 years ago.
Of course I am aware that this may be of absolutely no interest to anyone reading my blog, but just in case someone wants to know more, you can go to Rosia Montana itself and to no dirty gold and here is a detailed analysis of the situation including some hopeful alternatives for the people of the region, and a simple outline by Friends of the Earth, and this link takes you to a site devoted to "changing public policy and mining practices to ensure the health of individuals, communities and ecosystems in Canada and around the world".
Some old prophets had some sage advice:
"Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor" ~Zechariah 7:9-10
"What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" ~Micah 6:8
1 comment:
Such a shame hope it doesnt go ahead
I for one would be very interested in veiwing how people lived in that town 200 years ago and still do
thanks for the links
Jen at http://jenz.wordpress.com/
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