Ah Yah YahI hope Bill is only interested in a SXEW Plant here....

Ah Yah Yah
I hope Bill is only interested in a SXEW Plant here. We're dealing with enough tribal and rebel dissent in the DRC.

On the other hand - who better to negotiate with the locals and give them a real return and voice in the use of their lands. I value people above profit, regardless of personal cost.

Couldn't find anything on the net re: Phelps Dodge or whether the SXEW plant was available at the site, but did find they advertise regularly for SXEW Plant mechanics. No real connection unfortunately.

Note -> "Kalinga" = "Batong Buhay"
Article follows:

"Cordillera: Rebels Urge Tribes to Unite Against Mining
The Cordillera People's Democratic Front (CPDF) has called on tribal communities in the Cordillera to set aside conflict and prepare to wage war against the entry of mining companies in the region.
In a message sent by e-mail to the Inquirer, Ka Filiw, CPDF spokesperson, said tribal elders and leaders should lead in forging inter-tribal unity against mining firms that would stake a claim on their ancestral lands.

"Instead of waging tribal war, the tribal warriors throughout the Cordillera can constitute themselves as community self-defense units. They can help by preventing the entry of or by driving away mining surveyors and confiscating their equipment," Ka Filiw said.

The CPDF statement followed the Supreme Court's recent decision that affirmed the constitutionality of the 1995 Philippine Mining Act.

Development

"The government and the mining corporations claim that the revolutionary mass movement and the people are against development. The issue is for whose development and benefit are these mining corporations?" he asked.

In a resolution adopted by Cordillera youth in the recent Indigenous Youth Summit here last week, more than 70 delegates called the Supreme Court decision as an act of injustice to indigenous people.

A resolution adopted by the summit's delegates said indigenous people do not reject development "but we demand that our development be determined by ourselves to our own priorities."

"We demand respect for our rights to our territories, lands and natural resources and that under no circumstances should we be forcibly removed from our lands," the resolution said.

Anxiety

Small-scale miners from Kalinga, Abra, Mt. Province and Benguet also expressed their anxiety over the possible takeover of their operations by at least two mining companies.

"Our people are ready to sacrifice their lives to defend themselves from the entry [of mining firms]. We have done this before and we will do it again," said Casiano Luginday, a small-scale miner from the Banao Bodong Association of Kalinga.

He was referring to Kalinga's experience on the Batong Buhay mines, whose wastes reportedly destroyed ricefarms in Tabuk and the Pasil River.

Luginday said residents, angry at the impact of the mine's operations on the environment, stormed the Batong Buhay mine site and cut off its power lines."

End Articel - cheers Levelhead