re: abc just said-ronsteib
Is this the program you're talking about, tas?
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Ingrid MacDonald Monday 21 March 2005
Topic: Paradise Lost
Program Transcript
Marinduque is a small island in the Philippines - from a distance it looks like any other - with bright blue seas and swaying coconut palms.
However, this island is different. In 1969 the Marcopper Mining Corporation began mining the island for copper. The local people could not have foreseen the devastation it would bring.
The mine started to dump millions of tonnes of toxic waste into a shallow bay in 1975. The same bay 20,000 people relied on for fishing.
Today mothers and fathers watch their children slowly waste away - unable to put on weight, suffering from dementia and lead poisoning. Adults have stomach disorders, skin rashes and cancers. Some have died. Local fishermen such as Wilson Manuba have arsenic poisoning: one of Wilson’s feet has rotted away and has had to be amputated – doctors say he may end up losing his other foot as well. Wilson is 31 years old with three children and a wife; he still fishes even though he knows it’s killing him – what else can he do?
Janice Piguera was poisoned with heavy metals. She had two months of traumatic blood detoxification, along with many other island children. This painful process meant that the blood was taken from her body and cleansed.
Not all children have been so lucky. Marvic, Roden and Ambeth died slowly and in agony. Others may follow.
Marites Tagle lives on the Mogpog River on Marinduque Island. In the early hours of the morning on 6 December 1993, a dam holding back mountains of mine waste collapsed sending a 10 meter high torrent of toxic silt and water down the river. The flood swept away Marites’ daughters Christina and Josephine. It took four days to find Josephine’s body – she was full of mud and had begun to decompose. Today, the very same dam needs urgent repairs - Maritess is terrified she will lose more children.
In 1996 disaster struck again and the Boac River filled with over three million tonnes of mine sludge. Luckily, this time, no one died.
Those who profited from Marcopper deny that any of these problems are their fault. The mine operated from 1967 to 1996. It was owned by Philippines dictator President Marcos and Placer Development Limited until 1987. When Marcos was overthrown, ownership of Marcopper moved to the Philippines Government and to a newly formed company Placer Dome. Placer Dome is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and mines extensively in Australia. It is the world’s fifth largest gold producer. Marinduque is one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines.
With the Boac diaster, Placer Dome accepted ‘moral responsibility’ and provided some funds for rehabilitation. However, almost ten years later, the clean-up is only half finished – thousands of corroding Hessian bags filled with mine waste line the banks of the Boac River, allowing the toxic silt to wash back into the water.
After Boac, the Philippines government declared a state of calamity and closed the mine. Not surprisingly, in 1997 Placer Dome divested from Marcopper and the Philippines.
The communities who live with the mine’s legacy feel their situation is hopeless. They believe that the world has forgotten them whilst Placer Dome receives global accolades for its socially responsible behaviour. The communities don’t understand how Placer Dome can have profited from the mine and then just turn its back whilst their island remains polluted and they are sick and dying – a situation which would be unacceptable in Australia.
This case shows the urgent need for action – for legal standards which control companies no matter where they operate and for a formal complaints mechanism such as an Ombudsman. Many industries such as telecommunications and banking have an Ombudsman. But there is no industry complaints mechanism covering the activities of Australian Mining Companies despite their size and influence.
Oxfam Australia’s Mining Ombudsman was set up in this vacuum – it provides communities with an avenue to raise their grievances and demonstrates that a formal complaints mechanism is needed and can work.
Industry own estimates are that trillions of dollars are needed globally to clean up abandoned mines: of course, no one wants to pay. The reality is that the people who end up paying the price are the world’s most vulnerable people – like the women, men and children on Marinduque.
Placer Dome, the time has come to face up to your responsibility, clean up your waste and pay up what you owe.
