mobanmarketA Romanian village on Thursday scored a win for its environment and cultural heritage as its new designation as a “historic site of national interest” blocks a long-contested gold mine.
Agence France-Presse describes the development as “a new blow for Canada’s Gabriel Resources which has been trying for 15 years to get an environment ministry permit to extract 300 tonnes of gold from the picturesque village” of Rosia Montana.
As Common Dreams previously reported, since the project’s proposal in the late 1990s, it has faced fierce resistance from residents and activists who say the mine would have destroyed mountains, nearby villages, and ancient Roman ruins, as well as displaced residents. A main concern was also the planned use of cyanide for the extraction.
The new status means that “all mining activity is prohibited,” said Adrian Balteanu, the ministry’s adviser on cultural heritage.
Yet the win may still prove costly for Romanians because of the risks that come with corporate-friendly trade deals.
That’s because, as Brent Patterson, political director of the Council of Canadians, writes Friday morning, Gabriel Resources already has a challenge underway with the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (an ISDS challenge)—meaning it’s trying to seek compensation for damages from Romania for not being able to make profits from the project.
It’s allowed to do that, as journalist Claudia Ciobanu previously reported, “because of bilateral trade treaties Romania signed with Canada (where the company is listed on the stock exchange) and the UK (it is not yet clear whether the company is able to use the treaty with the UK because it has a subsidiary in infamous tax haven Jersey or for another reason).”
Click Here: camiseta rosario central
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT