Thursday, October 9, 2008

State Governor Rangel Gomez must admit responsibility for the deterioration of region's mining industry

VHeadline Venezuela News reports: Mining unions in southeastern Bolivar State are challenging State Governor Francisco Rangel Gomez to respond publicly to claims that the current state administration is shying away from sponsorship of Venezuela's 3rd National Environment & Mining Congress as a result of Rangel Gomez' refusal to admit responsibility for the deterioration of the economic development region's mining industry over the last several years of his mandate as Governor.

Rangel Gomez is seeking re-election in the November 23 regional elections.

Rodolfo Nimo, a member of a united trade union social oversight committee who has issued the challenge and warning to Governor Rangel Gomez says that the principal reason why the Governor is loathe to sponsor the event is that it will highlight the patent failures in his (Rangel Gomez') administration to address the most urgent problems faced by mining and indigenous communities associated with the paralyzation of all dialogue by government officials related to the controversial "mining conversion" which was originally conceived as a means to implement the legal and rational development of mining in concert with the environment, and the integration of mining communities and indigenous mining projects in line with central government insistence on respect for national sovereignty.

According Nimo, the Congress would debate the problems affecting more than 281 mining cooperatives and more than 30,000 miners across multiple municipalities in the south of the Guayana region, bordering on Brazil to the south and Guyana to the east. Congress organizers had intended to attempt to achieve solutions to what is seen as the total extinction of small-scale and artesanal mining operations to give preference to large industrial mining projects covering more than 2 million hectares (about 5 million acres) granted to transnational gold mining corporations.

Nimo says that while 1,002 mining claims had been successfully dealt with by former Basic Industries & Mining (Mibam) Minister Jose Khan, his successor at Mibam, Rodolfo Sanz in complicity with Governor Francisco Rangel Gomez has, (over two years in the job), spent Bs.F 50 million (17 million euros) in "bureaucratic expenses" to hold a total of 123 meetings at various mines, with 20-30 day-tripping government officials in attendance at each 1-3 day occasion "to defraud the mining communities with a reduced offer of Bs.F 880 million (299 million euros) rather than to face up the government's already negotiated and agreed compensation plan."