The struggle of the people of the Siria Valley
The traditional cry
of the rooster can be heard each morning in the El Pedernal community
in the Siria Valley. But one can also hear the complaints of the children
suffering from irritating and painful skin diseases.
After one or two years of illness, many children have become accustomed to life with a skin disease-there is little they can do about it after all.
El Pedernal, Siria Valley
Government authorities have not paid attention to their cases. Perhaps the explosions from the nearby gold mine have drowned out their voices, or perhaps our leaders think foreign investment and gold are more valuable than healthy skin.
There are many children in the Siria Valley with serious skin problems and hair loss-they are known locally as "moon children" because of white spots on their skin and scalp. Their condition is exacerbated by explosions in the mine, massive deforestation and the scarcity of water.
This human suffering surrounds the San Martin gold mine operated by the Entre Mares company.
March for Life
Cardinal Oscar Andrès Rodrìguez responded to the people's constant complaints about environmental damages and health problems in the Valley of Siria by visiting the area and joining residents in a March for Life. The Cardinal was deeply moved by what he saw in the community and he said, "The national conscience cannot ignore this history of deception and it would be an unpardonable error on the part of the authorities to not acknowledge what we see with our own eyes; it would be an historical error because these children will grow to blame us. Entre Mares is creating another national tragedy. We will not close our eyes. We will not close our mouths and let this place be destroyed."
The residents of the Siria Valley have looked on in shock and helplessness as the number of infants with serious skin problems has grown and as may elementary school children lose their hair without explanation. Hair loss is the hot topic at schools in the area. Girls can hide the problem with their long hair but bald spots are obvious on the heads of little boys with short hair, despite some boys' attempts to color in the spots with dark shoe polish.
The children live daily with the social stigma and constant itching in the affected areas. Parents' efforts to find effective medical treatment have turned up only temporary reductions in symptoms.
Today the children of the Siria Valley have many fears for their health. Despite medical consultation and various treatments, they still do not know what causes the hair loss and skin irritations.
The skin problems are further irritated by the hot climate in the Valley, the scarcity of water and the dust thrown up by explosions in the mine and the constant traffic of mining vehicles.
The public Health Center serving the area is generally staffed by one nurse who, faced with more demand for health care than can be met, accepts appointments for only one person per family. Treatments for the skin diseases have consisted of little more than ointments and vitamins that do not promise any cure. In desperation, many parents have spent their scarce resources on trips to the major cities of Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula to buy medicine.
Revistazo visited the Ministry of Health to investigate the alarming increase in skin diseases and hair loss in the Valley. We spoke with Doctor Julio Cèsar Arita, who assured us that the Ministry is aware of the problem but does not have the economic resources necessary to carry out a scientific investigation into the causes of the dermatological epidemic.
In contrast, Adonis Sandoval, a member of the Entre Mares Company Medical Brigade told us, "These illnesses are probably caused simply by poor hygiene."
The people
of the Siria Valley, and especially the community of El Pedernal, are
calling out to the Government for an immediate response to their difficult
situation.
Meanwhile, CARITAS, the social arm of the Catholic Church, has started
the process of accompanying the community and carrying out an investigation
and analysis of the General Mining Law.
Dr. Adonis Sandoval
The Public Prosecutor for the Environment
The Public Prosecutor for the Environment responded to reports of the grave health problems in the Siria Valley by initiating an investigation into the impact of the Entre Mares mine on the area. The results of that study prompted criminal charges to be brought against the company in 2000 in the Fifth Criminal Court. Charges included: usurpation of water, grave damages, forestry crimes and failure to obey authorities.
During
the case, the Public Prosecutor requested an arrest warrant against Simon
Pridway, a Canadian citizen acting as the Entre Mares representative.
The Judge admitted the order, but it was never executed because of ongoing
procedural issues. For now the process has been suspended pending a determination
of the degree of guilt sought. Meanwhile, the company has named a new
representative. The case is number 19773-2000 in the court, but Revistazo
was denied access to a copy of the case. Obviously, the case will stretch
on for a long time, which is common in Honduras when poor people fight
powerful interests.
The Public Prosecutor for the Environment, Mario Chincilla, commented
on the skin diseases among the children in the Siria Valley: "We
are limited in our scientific and technical capacity to link the illnesses
directly to the presence of the mine. The Public Prosecutor has asked
the College of Medicine in the National Autonomous University of Honduras
to carry out an investigation, but we have received no response to that
request as of this date. They could be held responsible as public functionaries
for disobeying the authority of a judge's order."
However, Eduardo Villacorte, the General Manager of the Entre Mares Mine, said, "CESSCO (the Honduran government's Center for the Study and Control of Contaminants) did a study, and we sent our own doctors, and they found that the people suffering from these illnesses have been sick for ten years or more." He added, "Anything that happens is going to be blamed on the mine."
Doctor Juan Almendares Bonilla, of the environmental organization Mother Earth, offers a different medical opinion. He said, "The problem is the leach pits where cyanide is used to extract ore and the explosions that throw heavy metals into the environment. The total effect of the mine causes serious health problems, problems that have yet to be systematically studied."
While opinions about the origin of the illnesses vary, the illnesses themselves cannot be denied. Children like Odair Aguilar, Hamilton Ramos and Beiran, Ostin and Gustavo Velàsquez carry the proof in their rashes and bald spots.
Eduardo Villacorte,
Entre Mares General Manager
Dr. Juan Almendares
Bonilla
Mining Law
Today, Honduras is still facing colonization of our mining resources,
only now it is not the Spanish but foreign companies who take advantage
or our General Mining Law to exploit Honduras' natural resources. The
government passed this law with the justification that it would create
jobs and economic resources.
The law was easily and quickly passed in November of 1998 by the Honduran
Congress with little real discussion or public participation. The President
at the time was Carlos Flores Facussè and the President of Congress
was Rafael Pineda Ponce.
The Law includes the following benefits for mining companies: 1) free
use of any public land not already in some other use within and surrounding
the concession; 2) the possibility of expropriating land owned by a third
party against the wishes of the owner; 3) unlimited time to operate the
concession; 4) unlimited rights to continue with the concession; and 5)
exemption from import taxes. The Concession Contract for Entre Mares does
not stipulate that they may only extract gold-the door is left wide open
to the exploitation of other minerals. The contract has no expiration
date; it is indefinite. However it does allow that the contract would
be nullified if the mine "affects or endangers the water, air, wildlife
or the community." That clause has yet to be enforced.
It is important to note that the law was approved a month after the disastrous
Hurricane Mitch without public discussion and that it violates some international
agreements regarding the protection and conservation of natural resources.
It also reduces the rights and safe guards afforded to the affected communities.
Entre
Mares
Entre Mares entered the country under the Mining Law. Entre Mares, a subsidiary
of the U.S. based Glamis Gold Ltd., began operation in the San Martin
Mine in 2000 with an investment of 45 million dollars. San Martin is located
in the Siria Valley about 70 kilometers outside the capital city of Tegucigalpa.
San Ignacio, Siria Valley
The
mine is actually within the boundaries of the San Ignacio municipality,
and is close to Cedros and El Porvenir de Francisco Morazán. The
company will not officially report the number of Hondurans employed by
the mine, but nearby residents say few Hondurans work there, maybe as
many as 50 working as manual labourers.
In investigating the environmental impact of the mine, Revistazo tried
to access copies of the Concession Contract and the Mitigation Contract
with Entre Mares. Access was blocked at all turns by the company and by
interested government bodies until an anonymous source handed over copies
of the documents.
Revistazo also
tried to visit the mine itself. We were first told we would be allowed
to enter as long as we did not photograph anything, which we agreed to,
but then we were never allowed to enter anyway.
The contract does authorize the mine to operate open pit mining, which
includes dynamiting the area, excavating up to 200 meters deep and then
using a diluted cyanide wash to extract the ore in leach pits. The process
obviously includes deforestation of the mining area.
Cyanide is a dangerous chemical. A cyanide spill by the mining company
MINOSA in the Lara River in Copán, Honduras killed many fish.
Representatives of the mine assert that they are not the only beneficiaries
of the mine. The town of San Ignacio receives 1% of all exports-in 2002
that was 6.7 million lempiras.* The company has also invested 3.4 million
lempiras in social projects in the town. The government benefits from
other taxes paid by the company.
Armed with this argument, representatives of Entre Mares, accompanied
by Congressman Oswaldo Ramos Soto (who calls himself the "congressman
of the people") met with President Ricardo Maduro early in the year.
Maduro congratulated them for their multi-million dollar investment in
the country. It would be worth noting that Ramos Soto has never accompanied
the people of the Siria Valley to meet with the President to discuss their
health problems.
Unregulated
Despite the benefits reported by the company, the negative environmental
impact is undeniable. A report presented by Claris Vega, former Public
Prosecutor for the Environment, found that 19 streams and brooks in the
Siria Valley are completely dry. Furthermore, the rate of deforestation
is high, wildlife habitat has been lost, there is air pollution and there
are health problems. All these issues motivate the complaints of the affected
communities.
Dry stream bed
For
the inhabitants of the Siria Valley, DEFOMIN (the Honduran government
body in charge of mining) and SERNA (Secretary of Natural Resources and
the Environment) have done little but look on, despite community members'
complaints going back three years.
During the administration of former minister Xiomara Gómez, and
with the knowledge of the Congressional Committee for Mines and Water,
a commission from the Siria Valley requested that Entre Mares' Environmental
License be revoked. This commission confirmed that the Ministry had told
them that action had not been taken because of the lack of a written complaint.
Although there have been few official complaints, there was one memo from
DEFOMIN saying that the company had begun operations without the proper
license and that mining vehicles were driving through the Playas River
and dirtying the water. To date, however, DEFOMIN has not inspected the
mining site for cyanide spills.
Environmental specialists also point out that the Mitigation Contract
for Entre Mares does not include mitigation requirements that match the
level of impact the mine will have. There is also no deadline for the
restoration to be completed, nor are there means to force the company
to comply with the requirements. Simple measures, like spraying the roads
to control dust are systematically ignored.
Given the resistance of Siria Valley residents to the continued presence
of the mine, it is urgent that a commission of professionals without political
or economic conflicts of interests be appointed to evaluate the true extent
of damages being caused to the health of the community by the mine.
Multi-million
dollar investment
According to the company, Entre Mares set up its operation with a 45 million
dollar investment with the expectation to have minimal environmental impact
and to provide significant income to the State. The reality has been quite
different.
The investment in equipment and infrastructure will not benefit the country
because the company will take it all back when it leaves. The investment
is for the benefit of the company. But what it will leave behind will
be the "cyanide cemeteries".
International Demand
After three years of Entre Mares' operation, the inhabitants of the El
Pedernal community in the Siria Valley feel helpless in the face of their
children's skin diseases and hair loss. Their need for real attention
from the authorities, for more than ointments that don't work, is urgent.
Looking into
the mine
A Siria Valley
child's feet covered in sores
Perhaps
the most effective strategy for the Siria Valley community would be to
denounce Entre Mares' negligence and to demand compensation from its parent
company, Glamis Gold, in a foreign court.
The people of the Siria Valley are caught in a struggle between health
and unregulated foreign investment. It is gold versus skin.
*The conversion of lempiras to U.S. dollars is about 17
to 1.
www.revistazo.com/english
