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| Exploitation of Nickel in Bosnia Turns Out to Be An Ecological Bomb |
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2005-01-20 12:38:30 |
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The Municipality of Uzice filed a lawsuit with the Serbian Supreme Court against the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy because it "gave permission for investigation of nickel reserves in the area of Mokra Gora, Tara and Zlatibor in violation of the law on mining and without the approval of the Ministry of the Environment and the Serbian Institute for Protection of Nature."
The president of the Uzice Municipal Assembly, Miroslav Martic, said that the disputed approval was issued on November 16 to Dinara Nikl Company of Belgrade, whose owner is the British multinational European Nickel PLC.
"The approval was signed by the assistant minister of mining, Dejan Rankovic, who didn't ask for the agreement of the Municipality of Uzice, not to mention that jobs done by foreign companies require a concession to be granted," says Martic.
Since the residents of Mokra Gora and the Municipality itself prevented the beginning of the investigation, the Dinara Nikl company addressed the Serbian Institute for Protection of Nature, where they were told that this area is "a tourist and nature region of the first and second degree and is under the protection of the state."
Preliminary investigation in the area of Tara, Zlatibor and Mokra Gora and the eastern part of RS showed that it contains some one billion tonnes of nickel with an average nickel content of 0.7%.
Experts claim that 100 years of nickel exploitation in these parts could produce 5 million tonnes of nickel, the average price of which on the London Stock Exchange is $15,000 a tonne.
According to a book written by Sladjana Sobajic Titled "Contamination of Food - Worry for Health and the Future," and according to trade literature which can be found on the Internet, the exploitation of this ore and its processing causes great ecological disasters.
The literature mentions "the secret city of Norilsk" in the north of Russia, where nickel has been exploited for decades and which is so polluted that people can only breath with masks.
The principal polluter is sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain, which in turn destroys forests.
There are no trees growing for 120 km around Norilsk. Many other plants are also destroyed, as are many animal species.
Experts say that the water "is dead" due to nickel residues, which also affect the health of people and animals.
The residents of Mokra Gora alarmed the public and ecological associations as soon as they learned of secret plans to exploit nickel ore in the area.
Mokra Gora has three springs of therapeutic water, a tourist complex, the Sarganska Osmica railway line and film producer Emir Kusturica's Ethnic Village, which is under UNESCO protection.
If a nickel mine were to open in Mokra Gora, the river Kamistina, which flows into the Rzav, would surely be polluted.
The Rzav at Vardiste enters into RS and flows into the Drina at Visegrad, which would also become polluted.
It is interesting that a nickel/iron ore mine operated at Vardiste for some 10 years after WWII.
Authorities closed the mine saying it was not profitable.
Source: BBC Monitoring
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seeurope.net |
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The Event: SEEF 2004
