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Lafayette Philippines is planning to file charges
against saboteurs and hoax artists, as it is becoming
increasingly clear according to the company, that the
latest fishkill report is another hoax very similar to
the one foisted on Sorsogon residents last year.
“There
was no fishkill in the immediate vicinity of our project
and in other places along the coast going to the
Poblacion area. Whoever is blaming us will have to
explain why the sea right in front of us in barangay
Pagcolbon and the other barangays nearby have no
problems, while Poblacion, which is about 10 kilometers
away, is having problems,” said lawyer Bayani Agabin,
LPI spokesman.
Agabin
added: “Nobody can even show a picture of dead fish on
the shorelines from the mine site to Poblacion. The
pictures we got showed at most two kilos of small fish
piled up neatly on the pavement. The barangays between
Pagcolbon and Poblacion have certified that there was no
fishkill in their areas.”
The
accusation against the project, he said, was
“impossible” because, aside from the 10-km distance, it
did not release any water before the supposedly fishkill,
since it was not in operation for preventive
maintenance.
Also,
its dam, which withstood supertyphoons Reming and
Milenyo last year with plenty to spare, had enough space
left for rain almost as deep as a four-story building,
he added.
Recent
reports also indicated that the supposed fishkill was
staged by some people who were against the project.
Agabin
said the Filipino-led management that took over the
Rapu-Rapu project roughly three months after it had its
mine incidents in October 2005 has religiously followed
all the rules and espoused responsible mining practices.
“We
cannot and will not allow a few misdirected persons to
stampede the public into panic through baseless scare
tactics and jeopardize the thousands of jobs we have
created, including hundreds from Rapu-Rapu island
itself. This is economic sabotage that will hurt the
poor the most. We will definitely take action,” he said.
However,
the environment department said Lafayette is not yet off
the hook after an official clarified that the cause and
nature of the fishkill in Rapu-Rapu, Albay, last month
is “still inconclusive.”
“The
DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources]
cannot clear or hold anyone accountable for the fishkill
at this point because there are still a number of
laboratory tests to be conducted before any conclusion
can be drawn,” said acting Environment Secretary Manuel
Gerochi. Gerochi, speaking on behalf of Environment
Secretary Lito Atienza, who is on an official mission in
Beijing, China, to attend an international conference on
sustainable use of natural resources, said the
investigation on what could have caused the fishkill and
other circumstances surrounding the incident is still
ongoing.
“As we
have pointed out in our initial statement, the DENR
cannot determine the possible cause of the fishkill,
since the expertise and mandate is vested on other
competent authorities, like the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources [BFAR],” Gerochi said.
He
issued the statement after the fact-finding body tasked
to look into the reported fishkill came with its initial
report, virtually absolving Lafayette of responsibility.
No less
than Rapu-Rapu Mayor Dick Galicia absolved Lafayette of
any responsibility by blaming the town’s vice mayor as
responsible for allegedly faking the fishkill to blame
and put the mining company in bad light.
The DENR
has already sought the BFAR’s assistance in conducting
extensive laboratory analysis to determine the cause of
the fishkill, Gerochi said, adding that the findings
issued by the Bicol-based DENR technical personnel are
“initial and preliminary.”
Preliminary results of the probe undertaken by the
regional technical personnel of the Environmental
Management Bureau and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau
showed that dead fishes were confined within the
50-meter radius of the Rapu-Rapu pier.
The pier
is 10 km away from the mine site of Lafayette Mining
Corp.
DENR
Region 5 executive director Reynulfo Juan said, “There
was no indication of massive fishkill within the
shorelines of barangays Carogcog, Santa Barbara,
Malobago, Pagcolbon and Binowasan, as manifested in the
certifications issued by five barangay captains in those
areas and as per ocular inspection made by the DENR
investigating team.”
In
virtually absolving Lafayette, Juan said in his report
that there was no overflow or spill from the tailings
pond of the mine sites or at the lower tailings storage
facility (LTSF) during the heavy downpour in the last
week of October.
“The
tailings pond freeboard was maintained at minus 10
meters and the impounding capacity of the LTSF was
adequate to contain the rainfall volume of 65,000 cubic
meters,” the DENR fact-finding body reported.
The DENR
team added that the quality of the marine waters between
the location of the reported fishkill and the mine site,
which is about 10 km apart, was found to be “within DENR
standards for cyanide.”
Further,
the DENR team said the mill plant of the mining project
has not been in operation since October 27 for
maintenance. |
