Aussie miner battles to gain residents' trust in Philippines

By John Grafilo Mar 25, 2007, 7:53 GMT

Rapu-Rapu, Philippines - When Australia's Lafayette Mining Ltd began its polymetallic mining operations on the eastern Philippine island of Rapu-Rapu two years ago, it was met with stiff resistance from residents and environmental activists.

'They are not welcome here,' Domingo Guinan, a 40-year-old fisherman and farmer, said as he bluntly voiced out his opposition to Lafayette's mining project.

Guinan lamented that previous mining activities on the scenic island, with its rolling hills and crystal blue waters, have only left the people more impoverished and the environment devastated.

'A few kilometres from the current Lafayette mine is an old mine tunnel, which was abandoned in the mid-1900s. Until now the water surrounding this mine site is still toxic,' he told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.

'All the promises that mining would improve our standard of living have never been fulfilled,' he added. 'Worse, we were the ones left to suffer the consequences of the environmental destruction like the toxic water near the old mine.'

Telltale signs of deprivation and abject poverty greet every visitor to the mineral-rich 5,589-hectare Rapu-Rapu Island in Albay province, 375 kilometres south-east of Manila.

Grimy skinny children playing on unpaved alleys and murky puddles close to the seashore, dilapidated thatched-houses, torn school buildings and an ageing hospital are some of the physical manifestations of decay on the island.

Chatting with residents in the area revealed a bleaker picture of the life of the more than 10,000 residents of the island. There was the lack of sanitation, families missing their meals, lack of water system and unstable power supply.

'Look around you,' Guinan said. 'Although mining firms have profited from our resources, we are still very poor. Now, this Lafayette is making the same promises our grandfathers heard from previous mining firms.'

What further increased the people's distrust on Lafayette operations was two cyanide spills on some of the island's creeks in October 2005, just four months after the company began operations.

Due to the spills, Lafayette's operations were suspended by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in November 2005. But the firm was eventually allowed to resume operations this February after complying with stringent measures to prevent a repeat of the accidents.

Village chieftain Reynold Asuncion, whose area is part of the actual mining site, urged his fellow islanders to give Lafayette a chance.

'I admit that I was ambivalent at first about the sincerity of Lafayette officials to protect the environment and uplift the lives of our people, but they are delivering on their promises,' he said.

Asuncion cited socio-economic projects initiated by Lafayette, including providing materials for building toilets in all households, in three villages that straddle the mine site.

Data from Lafayette showed that it has already spent 14 million pesos (290,000 dollars) in socio-economic projects in the three villages, on top of the 180 million pesos it paid in various taxes to the national and local governments.

Jose Gerald Cubias, vice president for industrial and community relations of Lafayette's Philippine unit, said the company has allocated at least 22 million pesos this year to boost projects aimed at directly helping the residents.

'We have earmarked this money for the various socio-economic projects that will directly benefit the people on the island,' Cubias told dpa during a tour of the Rapu-Rapu mine site. 'The figure is likely to increase every year as we continue to operate the mine.'

'We will be holding consultations with the residents on the island to make sure that our projects would be responsive to their needs,' he added. 'We want to ensure that whatever money we spend for the people would have the strongest impact on their lives.'

Cubias added that Lafayette also has several decommissioning plans to be implemented in cooperation with the islanders to ensure the environmental sustainability of the 187-hectare mining concession area, only 15 hectares of which are devoted to open-pit mining.

'We don't want to leave our area a wasteland,' he said, noting that the mining life of Lafayette's site on Rapu-Rapu is only five years.

Lafayette's initiatives to become a good corporate citizen, if successful, could be a big boost to the Philippine government's efforts to gain popular support for its intensified campaign to attract more foreign investments in mining.

Environmentall Secretary Angelo Reyes said the government aims to attract 6.5 bilion dollars in foreign funding for 24 priority mining projects to revive the country's minerals industry and spur economic growth.

For 2007, he said the country's copper output was expected to rise by 85 per cent and gold output by 16 per cent due to the opening of new foreign-operated mines.

The government estimated that the country has a total of one trillion dollars worth of unexplored gold, copper and nickel.

But environment groups and the influential Catholic Church have continued to oppose the goverment's push for the mining industry.

They have particularly expressed doubts over Lafayette's sincerity to protect the environment and uplift the lives of the islanders following the 2005 tailings spills.

Father Felino Bugauisan, a Catholic priest on Rapu-Rapu and a staunch anti-mining advocate, said residents were already tired of listening to the broken promises of Lafayette.

'We have been hearing about these promises for several years now but the people here remained impoverished,' he said. 'Our island is being destroyed.'

Antonio Casetas, 69, who heads the local group Sagip Isla (Save the Island), blamed Lafayette for the woes suffered by residents of Rapu-Rapu, including the dwindling catch of fishermen and skin diseases and other ailments afflicting the people.

In a review of the DENR's decision to allow Lafayette to resume its operations, the anti-mining coalition, Defend Patrimony, cited an experts report that pinpointed flaws in the mining operations on Rapu-Rapu.

According to Efren Favila, a mining engineer who was part of the review, the Lafayette mine lacks 'important emergency infrastructure that are crucial to preventing another disastrous mine spill.'

The report also found that there was still 'unmonitored, unregulated presence of physico-chemical and trace metals (particularly toxic heavy metals) in mining-affected areas, waterways and ground ... that pose a threat to marine and human life.'

Despite the continued opposition to its operations, Cubias said Lafayette was encouraged by the warming of its relations with the villages close to its mine site and hope to reach out to the other residents on the island.

'We welcome all the issues raised against us,' he said. 'This will keep us on our toes.'