PERÚ: Piura said NO to mining project

... but Alan García insists

Sep.16.- One year ago today, a local vote was held concerning possible mining activity in three highland districts in northwestern Peru. The referendum drew thousands of peasant farmers, many of whom traveled for the best part of a day by horse, truck or on foot to mark their ballot “yes” or “no”. Referendum in Piura, Perú

“We are here to say ‘no’ to this mining project,” said one young woman from the El Carmen de la Frontera district, close to the northern border with Ecuador. “And we would like the government to respect the decisions that we are making here.”

“We are defending our water and land for our children and grandchildren,” she stated, speaking to a film crew from Guarango Cine y Video.

This week, people in the districts of Ayabaca, Pacaipampa and El Carmen de la Frontera are commemorating last year’s impressive results: about 60% of the electorate participated and 94.5% said “no”.

But one year later, the government of President Alan Garcia still refuses to recognize the results.

“There is no reason that this project shouldn’t go through,” said Garcia to members of the Zijin Mining Consortium during his trip to China in March.

Zijin is the major shareholder in Rio Blanco Copper S.A. (formerly Minera Majaz S.A.). UK-based Monterrico Metals also maintains an interest in the project that is hoped to reach production by 2011. It could be the start of a large scale mining district reaching across the Ecuadorian border.

Garcia’s statement, however, not only ignores last year’s decision but also dismisses reports from several national institutions that declare the project illegal and in violation of the project’s own environmental plan.

In the lead up to the vote, the Ombudsman’s Office reported that the project was illegal. They cited the company’s lack of the 2/3 approval from assemblies of the two campesino communities on whose land the copper and molybdenum mineral exploration activities would take place, as required by Peruvian law.

In early 2008, the Supervisory Body for Private Investments in Energy and Mines (OSINERGMIN) sanctioned the company for not meeting its environmental commitments to the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

But despite social and environmental red flags, the government has insisted ...

[ Full text ]