Gold mine divides northern Greek community
Protesters warn they will ramp up action against quarrying in Halkidiki
By Thanasis Tsinganas
Local groups in Halkidiki, northern Greece, are protesting against
efforts by Hellenic Gold, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Eldorado Gold,
to mine the Skouries quarry on Mount Kakkavos and have upped their game
with threats of more action.
Protesters recently warned the
company that unless all mining stops they are prepared to blockade work
sites and roads, organize rallies and resist police intervention, along
similar lines to protesters in Attica’s Keratea area, where action
against a landfill led to several violent clashes with police in 2011.
“A
complete cessation of mining is the only action we are prepared to
accept from the state, otherwise there will be tension that could get
out of hand,” one member of the committee protesting the gold mine,
Lazaris Toskas, told Kathimerini.
One month after scuffles broke
out between workers and protesters who had blockaded the road leading to
the Skouries mine, it looks as if protesters are poised to ramp up
their action, threatening a drawn-out period of tension that will affect
the entire region.
Another factor that is causing authorities concern is that the issue has divided the local community.
On
the one hand are groups of residents in Megali Panaghia, Ierissos and
the so-called Mandemochoria cluster of hamlets, who argue that mining in
Skouries destroys the natural environment, will deplete the region’s
resources and downgrade the entire area. Their position is backed
political parties such as the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA),
the Green Ecologists and the Alternative Ecologists. They are also
backed by a number of extra-parliamentary leftist groups as well as
anti-establishment factions operating outside Halkidiki that are
protesting the operation of the gold mine.
On the other side,
hundreds of miners, many of whom come from a long line of local gold
workers, have sided with Hellenic Gold. They believe that the investment
will provide a lifeline for the local economy and that the dangers
cited by the protesters are unfounded.
Hellenic Gold, which has
been active in the region for eight years, stands by its position that
all environmental and other regulations are being strictly enforced, and
wants to continue with mining without further delay.
Over the
past few weeks, however, protesters have clashed with workers and with
riot police dispatched to the area to ensure that the site stays open.
They have also marched and held a number of rallies that turned violent
in front of Ierissos Town Hall, as well as torching the car of Mayor
Christos Pachtas who has voiced his support for the gold mine.
“We will not just block all mining; we will make sure that not a single hole is dug in the ground,” said Toskas.
According
to the protester, the investment will create fewer jobs than those that
will be lost as a result. He also accused Hellenic Gold of pitting
locals against each other. “We have nothing against the workers, but we
do against those who incite them,” he said.
Toskas said that the protesters have planned more action for May 1 at the Skouria forest.
In
the other camp, Angelos Deligovias, the president of the miners’
association, argues that “investments such as this are unlikely to be
seen anywhere else in Greece. More than 1,500 people will be employed in
the mine. If you are unemployed in this day and age, you know how
important a job is. We live here, we have invested in the region and our
children are here. The project will proceed and it will allow us to
remain here,” he said.
According to Hellenic Gold CEO Petros
Stratoudakis, the problem lies in the fact that Greece has yet to
formulate a clear investment strategy. He also said that the mine has
boosted the use of new technologies and the monitoring of environmental
standards. “The local community is involved and a part of the gains went
to the local municipality,” he added. |
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