Email
PrintProfits over people
Community members and their supporters protest against the Rapu Rapu mine outside the provincial government offices in Legazpi, in Albay. Photo: Shanta Martin/OxfamAUS.
Cyanide spills from an Australian-owned mine in the Philippines have robbed poor fishing communities of their livelihoods, as Oxfam Australia Media Coordinator Laurelle Keough explains.
For fisherman Perfecto Banaynal, life changed the day that cyanide poisoned the sea.
“I am already 41 and have been fishing for 20 years. Before when I would go to sea I would always have a catch but since the mine, sometimes there is no catch.”
Perfecto lives on the small island of Rapu Rapu in the Philippines, and is one of many locals who made a living from fishing before two cyanide-laden spillages from an open-pit mine contaminated the sea, leading to mass fish kills and destroyed livelihoods.
The copper-zinc-gold-silver mine was owned by the now defunct Melbournebased Lafayette Mining Limited and backed by a financial consortium led by ANZ Bank. Lafayette began mine operations in April 2005 — before it established environmental safeguards and despite overwhelming community opposition. Six months later, the mine’s tailings dam overflowed, releasing its cyanide-laden sludge into the sea.
While Lafayette promised to contribute to local and regional development, and ANZ proudly trumpeted its commitment to the highest social and environmental standards by signing up to the international banking industry’s Equator Principles, both failed to prioritise the local communities’ wellbeing over profits. Both have incurred financial losses and have withdrawn from the mine.
But the biggest losers are the community members now unable to make a living from fishing and surviving on one meal a day; they are still waiting for justice.
“Right now we have so much poverty,” says local resident Arlene Bordarais. “Before we were poor, but we had fishing. Before, I bought milk for my children, but now I can only give them rice-water. My child got sick because I can’t afford the milk … a couple of days ago my husband wanted to go fishing but I didn’t have food for him for breakfast, so how could he go?”
Before there was no mining the people were living on their own, a simple lifestyle ... but now all our baranguys [villages] are complaining of the situation of mining, destruction of our forests, our ocean, our people.
Arlene’s story is one of many documented in Oxfam Australia’s latest Mining Ombudsman case report which outlines the social and environmental impacts of the Rapu Rapu mine and gives voice to the communities’ grievances.
Its findings tell the all too familiar story of profits over people and their environment: water sources have been contaminated, lessening the availability of drinking water; landslides have increased following blasting activity at the mine; and no funds have been set aside for rehabilitation.
Similarly, a Fact Finding Commission established by the President of the Philippines found that Lafayette had been “grossly negligent” in failing to establish environmental safeguards, which led to the toxic discharges in 2005, spills which Lafayette did not deny (although Lafayette denied responsibility for further fish kills in 2006 and 2007).
There have also been social costs. Rapu Rapu fisherfolk whose incomes were affected by the spills say their health has been affected — many say they now eat only once per day and forgo fresh fish. Others feel their freedom of movement has been curtailed by armed military patrolling the island and that Lafayette’s promised contribution to local, regional and national development — including the promise of employment — has failed to materialise.
“They said there would be jobs but most people from here don’t have knowledge of the machines and can only get a few jobs,” says Antonio Casitas, a Rapu Rapu elder. “Before there was no mining the people were living on their own, a simple lifestyle … but now all our baranguys [villages] are complaining of the situation of mining, destruction of our forests, our ocean, our people.”
To seek justice for the people of Rapu Rapu, Oxfam Australia has made a number of recommendations to the Australian Government, the Australian mining industry — which is increasingly being lured overseas by generous tax concessions, as has happened in this case — and the financiers of the mine.
Treated waste water from Rapu Rapu mine in the Philippines flows down Pagcolbon Creek into the ocean. The bright yellow-orange staining is a characteristic sign of acid mine drainage. Photo: Alex Felipe.
Oxfam Australia’s Mining Ombudsman Shanta Martin, who was contacted by communities on Rapu Rapu to investigate their grievances, says ANZ’s behaviour in this case has failed to live up to its public statements.
“From the outset, ANZ should have done better,” Ms Martin says. “When considering whether to lend to a mining project, ANZ should have critically assessed the potential social and environmental risks. They should then have insisted on measures to avoid those risks eventuating.
“Furthermore, if those risks do arise — as they did in the case of Lafayette’s mine — ANZ should have identified specific actions their client should complete to manage those issues and these actions should become part of the terms of ANZ’s services.”
Oxfam Australia raised concerns about the Rapu Rapu mine with ANZ in June 2007, and facilitated direct communication between local community members and ANZ. Subsequently, Oxfam Australia presented ANZ with a list of recommendations to address the situation.
Given the lack of response from ANZ despite multiple requests for information and action, Oxfam Australia has no choice but to discontinue accepting institutional donations from the bank until it demonstrations a commitment to implement these recommendations.
Back on Rapu Rapu, all is quiet at the mine … for now. Lafayette went into voluntary administration in December 2007, unable to repay its debts to ANZ. In April, the administrators announced the sale of the bank’s debt and Lafayette’s interest in the mine. The Rapu Rapu mine now has new operators, and looks set to resume commercial operations. So it’s back to business it seems, but not for the people of Rapu Rapu.
Perfecto and his fellow fisherfolk still find it difficult to sell what little fish they catch due to fear of contamination among prospective buyers from elsewhere in the Philippines. Life has changed, and the future is uncertain. “We are afraid,” says local resident Vilma Tapaganao. “If the mining will still continue, what will be the effect on us?”