English
Certej = Roşia Montană. Ask Iohannis to respect the law
Dear President-elect Klaus Iohannis,
During the last weeks you said you were preparing to be a mediating and integrating president, a binding element between state and society. In the short time left before you take over this role de facto, your position as leader of PNL (the National Liberal Party) provides you with the opportunity to start applying the values and principles for which Romanians gave you a vote of confidence.
Two of these principles – transparency and responsibility at the level of central or local authorities – can be applied in the case of Certej as early as today, even by members of the party you are (still) leading.
The cyanide mining project at Certej started to move forward, notwithstanding that:
– It is similar to the Roşia Montană project, and the permitting procedure was marked by countless controversies, abuses and suspicions of illegitimacies committed by state institutions since 1995.
– The authorities acted in a manner which was non-transparent and clearly servile to the interests of Deva Gold SA, from the mining license transfer, the environmental impact assessment up to the issuance of the construction permit for the site management works.
– Romanian society in general is against cyanide mining projects in our country (see Diaspora’s Letter or The Cluj Declaration ).
Petru Cîmpian, mayor of Certeju de Sus and a party colleague of yours, refuses to abide by the law and hinders civil society’s access to extremely important documents related to the permitting and commencement of the first cyanide project in our country.
Mayor Cîmpian’s attitude – with its lack of institutional transparency and the whitewashing of abuses – should be subject to political sanctions, being just as corrosive for the rule of law as corruption deeds and conflicts of interest. Mr. President-elect, we therefore request you to act according to the values and principles undertaken by you during the election campaign for compliance with laws in the case of Certej.
For more information please contact: Tudor Brădățan, telefon: +40 (0)745-370524, contact@miningwatch.ro/mwatch
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‘Mining Watch Romania’ is a monitoring network designed to optimize surveillance efforts, planning and intervention of civil society and local communities on mining activities in Romania. In this respect, the network performs monitoring and analysis activities of mining projects proposed in our country and conducts lobbying to influence decision makers in Romania so that local communities can voice their concerns in shaping their own future.
www.miningwatch.ro/sitenou
