Haitian Senate Calls for Halt to Mining Activities

by Haiti Grassroots Watch and Inter Press Service

 
Outraged that they have not been consulted, this week Haitian senators called for a moratorium on all activities connected with recently granted gold and copper mining permits.

In a resolution approved by 15 of 16 senators present, the lawmakers also demanded the establishment of a commission to review all of the current mining contracts and “a national debate on the country’s mineral resources.”

The resolution – voted Feb. 20 in reaction to three new gold and copper mining permits issued late last year by the government – decried “the genocide that accompanied the pillage of our mineral resources in the 15th century”, “the waste of resources… since the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake,” the foreign mining experiences of the 20th century which caused “trauma,” and “the incapacity of our country to calmly undertake negotiations related to its mineral resources in a context of political disequilibrium.”....................

FULL ARTICLE HERE: Haitian Senate Calls for Halt to Mining Activities