The team and now there is truth to the semis on saturday. Youre watching news life from berlin the documentary dynamite in paradise is up next here on thing you know ill be back at the top of the hour with more International News thanks so much for joining us. Europe the big idea. But whats become of it. Will it look like tomorrow. Being for a Better Future isnt enough europe requires our purchase of. European elections 2019 may 26th on g. W. Day for mining magna sites and north increase for 100 years and gold is to be mined 50 kilometers east of here. A lot of people are upset about that. Mining and stuff its very sensitive you know chivvying up question what always rested a great grass this treasure in these mountains. Score years will start. We will be destroyed. Tourism is a key element of the economy here in the how critical region. Fishing and agriculture also important because agriculture and tourism coexist with industrial morning this is a commie news Foreign Investment but at what price. Were
on our way to the hellish cold company a subsidiary of the Canadian Mining GroupEldorado Gold we want to interview some of the managers here. The Security Guard tells us to wait we want to find out more of the 3 mines that the Company Operates in this region especially the gold mine and skerries Telephone Call from the Public Relations department. A number of gold mines are to be built a Northern Greece proposed projects have led to bitter disputes between opponents and supporters. To lease papa gorgo as a cofounder of a Citizens Movement thats trying to stop the mines hes been fighting against gold mining here for 20 years or more some people here is the with. Their
fishing and tourism and told me new must see me with water means clear native. Environment. And gives good years would start ever make it will be destroyed saw. The fire in the big ball is still existing. Now were headed for the gold mines of skerries with as is maria could talk to lisas partner and another outspoken opponent of Industrial Mining and shes considered on official leader of the movement thats standing up to the Eldorado Gold and its greek subsidiary. That we stop outside the entrance to the mine and by the time maria gets out of the car the Security Guards are already on the phone. Maria often comes here with a photographer to document possible environmental damage caused by the mine. This is where the gold would be extracted 1st with Surface Mining and then underground. 24000. 00 tons of rock per day will be dug out of the soil but theres a lot of gold there less than one gram for total. Smelter will also be built here the value of the gold silver and copper deposits in this region is estimated at about 15000000000. 00 euros more than 3 square kilometers of forest were cleared to make room for the mine. They built all this without a permit they got one later but its still illegal. We checked and we were ported that and alba violations to the appropriate government ministry. Security guards arrived to find out what were doing the entire area is sealed off like a Top Secret Military base and visitors are not welcome. The Mining Company has been arguing with the greek government for years about this project some of the companys obligations were approved but others were not several of the disputes ended up in courts or arbitration. The government has not yet given permission for the mine to open so things are on hold here. At their home marina and to lease shows documents that outlined the long Running Dispute over the Mine Maria Post news about the project almost every day on her blog. There have been violent protests against the environmental damage caused here by the mine police or fire tear gas at anti money demonstrators. Company equipment has been set on fire we did 2
reports on all of this for germanys a. R. D. T. V. Network. We were filming in the nearby forest in april 28th 131 of the spew broke out between activists and a Mining Company worker. Tries to drive a bulldozer into the area of the protesters were determined to stop. The workers said it was just doing his job and if he didnt hed be fired. He added the protesters might get him to leave but the company was staying put. Sort of the opposite this is an Old Growth Forest and the Mining Company wants to build a road through here and a landfill so theyre knocking down all the trees with their bulldozers even though they dont have permission to do that work and i need to drop the ball then i who now. In july 20th well we interviewed cut a renewed glitzy had just been elected to represent hulk
a decrease in parliament she was a member of the left wing Cillizza Party Which was then part of the opposition. Makes a lot of. The people of this region and elected me so that i could go to parliament and try to stop this catastrophic gold mining project. You know better than the sardis except that. Maria has often watched this video that shows the reason leader Alexis Tsipras and june 23rd deal with cut to rina glazier at a rally in the town of your recess. We will not abandon you and your legitimate struggle against armed police and oppression the next time i come to this town we will have doubled our share of the vote we will form the next government and we will guarantee Social Justice and Environmental Protection. But let me know now that youve got to go to prove your people to produce came there to take advantage of this iteration to exploit their movement for political gains where they were saying or is that we get elected. On the 25th Of January 2015 and on the 26th they are gone and the other is gone. Not only did this not happen but during the years of the citizen government an entire plant was built at school yes. 1800. 00 hectares of forest were wiped out. In the years of legal wrangling ive hit eldorado stock price hard drop to a 5 year low of about 60 us cents a share and lay 2018 of the whats recovered somewhat recently. Heres a map of the cull could be keeping them. The region resembles the one with 3
fingers. The Satellite View clearly shows the locations of the mines and retention basins. Quite close to some Populated Areas the effect of the Mining Operation of the surrounding landscape has been considerable. So what is here is the village of the tony and this is the location were they knew the new facilities will be built they knew what they saw plant then you meant there was a plant and the house of those because of the Waste Facility of working all of this part of which you can already see over there in its size then you can all of us Waste Facility is even bigger than the villages that i thought that you can see behind me also the dam that will confine their waste is that this sense of only 500
meters from the village of some of the money whereas in Environmental ImpactStatement Headlines gold stated that the stance is 3. 5 kilometers. You can see is obviously not true. In addition the proposed landfill is located in a seismic hazard zone. 132 this area was rocked by a severe earthquake that measured 7. 2 on the Richter Scale an estimated 500 people were killed or injured. If huge landfill that contained several 1000000 tons of highly toxic mining waste were to be struck by an earthquake effects on the surrounding area could be devastating. A lot of miners live in st tony. Tellus gold operates a facility here the process is gold silver lead and zinc as concentrate. The company also has a similar plant nearby a. Lot of people here say that these factories are good for the local economy. This banner says the mines a coke addict is only future. This is the village of the gallipoli gear located not far from the skerries gold mine. About 3000 people live here and they are divided on the benefits of local mining. The dispute is cause friction among friends and family members. Those who work in the mines say these facilities benefit the entire community. The more the 40 the only resource is that we have in this region are the mines. Theres nothing else we dont have Tourist Beaches or farm and theres nothing. There
what are we supposed to do eat grass this treasure in these mountains up to no it would be shovel the Mining Company if you get the local economy moving again they can open it. You will see along that last. Report. Georgists Cutter Easy Otus is a veldt or has been working for Hella Schools since 2012 here its a good living and the company pays wages on time. I work at the Scowrers Mine and its a good job we used to have some problems with a few local people who were opposed to the mine but thats changing slowly. But if you are still dead set against the mine i dont know why. There are real hard liners. There. They dont even sit down with us and discuss the situation. Theyve got to describe it as the summit. This is the
east coast of college at the. Minerals including gold have been mined here since ancient times but today the extraction of these resources take place on an industrial scale and that has caused severe environmental damage. The governments archaeological Oversight Agency must approve all construction projects. But has not yet been signed off from the scary mind. Because ancient ruins were found there by the site of the city of a qantas silver coins dating back to the 5th century b. C. Have been found here this indicates that the city was prosperous at the time. The village of euro keeney is located about 50 kilometers to the west an Open Cast Magna site might has been operating here for 100 years explosives are used to
extract the socalled white gold. After the raw Magma Site Lumps are blasted out of the ground there transported to the crushing plants. The Mining Company in magna site employs 340 workers and ministry toures. It produces 160000 tons of Magnesium Carbonates and 50000. 00 tonnes of basic refractory products per year. 75 percent of the output is sold in europe including 10 percent thats exported to germany. For british muslim is more. Company Managing DirectorDemetrius Porter last shows around. The business was founded in 1959. By his father and grandfather. Today its one of the Worlds Largest producers and exports of
magma sites. Portales joined the company after he completed his studies in military Service Since the 1980. 00 s. The site is paid close attention to the Environmental Protection with the other side of the mining areas to work now but we have to make plans so the idea is to include every have believed in the protection of the environment as part of your job and also to keep the area as live as possible i mean people who live here people move around the area and one has to consider all saw the end of the life of a mining and you dont want to leave something that looks terrible dangerous and im appealing. As with our minds in greece the land in which the grecian Microsite Facility is located belongs to the state. The
government sells the exploration and mining rights to companies. They are in money by selling the minerals they extract and they pay taxes on their profits. The rocks are crushed in several stages. And the employee keeps a close saw in the process. After the magna site is washed sorted and ground up its fired into a rotary kiln at a temperature of about 1500. 00 degrees celcius. Mark the site is widely used for insulation and as a refractory material for Blast Furnace is in steel plants its also a component part of products of the verses Aircraft Electric Cattle and fertilizers. The meter supports a loss and plant manager pov the onus are making a final inspection of their products. The Company Works hard to keep its regular
customers happy. But it also has to move into new markets and thats where it faces tough Price Competition especially from china. But porter last believes that greeces Mining Industry could compete effectively i think it is for a couple of reasons firstly there is a lot of interest being especially invested in. Minerals in greece which have not been fully exploited so there is it isnt there said would be its in europe. And its part of the European Union that you dont have to rely on fire away places and all these sort of things so thats a signal. There is a lot of mining know how most of the people working at this mine
their local. Head. Of state job which. Hes. Covering there. This sort of financial needs which is interesting in many ways which requires a lot of the new technologies and everything so we get a lot of young people that are interested to be employed in a place where new methods are not that can order be that you have. That opens up new training and job prospects for those who cant or dont want to work in the Tourism Sector or in agriculture. Or. A lakes form that this part of the mine complex. The water depth ranges between 4 and 6 meters depending on how much its rate recently. The lake series is a habitat for birds and fish. Water from the lake is used to irrigate olive groves and pine trees which are grown in the companys own nursery until they mature. Then they are used in reforestation projects. Some of the olive trees here are 2000 years old and they still bear fruits. Demitra sports are lost loves to visit the nursery and reforestation is an important part of his companys business philosophy. We head live in the program for over 303035 years we started in the in a very small scale and then we. Increase. The rationing of
the 3 we increased also the old. Trees that were sprayed in the mine and then they have merely a dead body as. Greece is the worlds 2nd largest producer of olives. These pine trees will also be replanted elsewhere. Near the mine complex we meet nico. He worked at the facility for more than 40 years now nikos a 65. 00 and retired errands a little extra money tending to his farm animals. What is it that. Hes in good physical shape. And so will his goats and chickens. Then it would all the animals are fine the sulphur doesnt bother them at all i even let
the chickens pack around for food at the mine site. Could go to 3 of them. Nico says his mother also worked at the mine im a tamed Good Health Even in old age its just. Its. Just. In recent years going to kenya has been transformed from a Miners Village into a tourist resort. This pier where transport ships were loaded with magna sites doesnt seem to bother the visitors. Some people have proposed converting the site into a trendy new restaurants but they have to find investors 1st. The local economy is focusing more and more in terms of. There are no Hotels Apartments targets and shops the cater to visitors many of them use gary kinney as a Starting Point for trips around the cult of the region at a cafe we talked to a local couple about the Mining Facility. The brotherhood of the. Moment are you going to look for the magna site mine has been here for a long time. A lot of people worked there for years and then retired but now a lot of those jobs have been filled by young people. I dont think the mind has had a negative impact on local tourism up to be here in your daughters mind because. The she can remember the good news id say that the mine has actually helped the
region in some families people from several generations of work there in some cases 3 generations in fact. That is good. For them in. The mine has had a mostly positive influence. On my cant think of any negatives. But ive been skerries people are really worried about the gold mine. And thats why they get so upset. Youre fearful of the cause the. A group of Anti Mining Activists have gutted that the spire in your recess to tell us about some of the clashes that have taken place between demonstrators and police at the scariest facility. Talisa maria are here to some of the protesters were arrested and charged with various crimes several of the people here full of the demonstrations and the Police Response that it would give the message that the many give it the capital funnily enough that was actually something i can remember we heard the police talking on
their radios and then they moved in. We started running. Some of us wanted to move forward but couldnt because there was a lot of smoke sat there and then we put a stop to get the people on the topic and the police insulted us. Im not going to repeat what they said. In my blog at the bottom up bar must be so they roughed us up. I broke one of my arms. Later i was charged with resisting arrest Disturbing The Peace and a few other things. These that see. The. Marine occur a stereo was sentenced to probation but shes appealed the course decision. To get it what is with them they charge tasked with manufacture of explosives. Possession of explosives. Disturbing the peace and attempted manslaughter. It was like half the entire penal code the mission when you go. He is the only got to the Mines Front Gate the police fired tear gas at us the people panicked and some fell to the ground. Several of us were there for the whole demonstration and we were the last to leave. Messages from the government because the police took photographs of us and thats when it was and that was the evidence that the prosecutors used to do accuse us of war when i was in the demonstration. Was describing some the to throw some of the one of them we woke up in the middle of the night because we were afraid that the police were going to come over in a restless right away. They picked up some people from the village 2
days later we found out that theyd been taken to police headquarters. There were several trials and i had to pay court costs that was really expensive as they have already spent 10000. 00 euros just for the skerries trial. Think it likely that if you got to go. It. Was. Like. This is the tell the whole of your a source one of 16 communities that makes up a municipality named for a startle the ancient greek philosopher. Georgia has been the new miss apologies mayor since 2015. Hes a member of the party and an opponent of the gold mine hes been called several times to testify at the trials of the protesters. Or that said that they
would be for them so the indictment covers half the penal code. The defendants have been tied up in the courts for years to get that one up and theyve had to spend a lot of money on lawyers and court costs. Even though they might be acquitted in the end up with the whole. Theres less water down the rivers and streams of calcavecchia because of climate change. The reasons water reservoirs located near mounds kuk of us Geology Professor surrounds us dimitri out as says Mining Operations pose a serious threat to the reservoir. Yet i do the usual stuff so. If the old fart is allowed those calories mine to open a facility has to be kept dry both above and below ground. Theres a lot of water in the mountains. And it has to be pumped out. From
a height of 670 meters above sea level to about 130 meters below sea level rises that will completely drain a large area in the mountains. The reservoir is essential for the entire region. To your lots more because cowries mine would release to toxic Chemical Substances into be Environment Asbestos and crystal in courts. If those materials content to pursue rounding communities either is dost or mixed with rain they could cause cancer. You know and i got to go yourself. A stereoscope solace that his friends the mitri are personally beekeepers
mysterious owns 25 beehives live the village of joe mccarthy about 3 kilometers from the scariest gold mine him and hes worried that if the gold mine is allowed to open it would pollute the surrounding trees and soil with toxic materials. Those pollutants would then be absorbed by the bees and that could be deadly for the insects and for humans really just so they need. To hold your mostly beer and we had a similar situation about 40 years ago. Back then the power lines around here were strung up on wooden poles that were covered with coal tar creosote. During the hot summer months the creosote mounted the. Beans thought it was nectar because it smelled like pine wood. Later when people
extracted the honey from the hives it was full of creosote. Theres Something Like that could happen again. With that pollutants from this gold mine. So the honey could be contaminated with the hospitals and crystalline quartz that we talked about earlier. But unlike creosote these materials would leave no visible trace. A lot of local farmers are worried about toxic materials getting into the ground water the soil where they grow their crops and the pastors with their livestock grains. This is the starter stary the business was founded in 1906 and has grown steadily
since then the dairy no employs 25 people they produce yogurt and cheese in shifts around the clock for sale to wholesalers and individual customers. One of the managers to me Trist Authorise says the local residents are always talking about the gold mine. For going for the better of the people are nervous about it. But i think that we have to make use of the wealth that we have in this region of the river of the. Border that may be a difficult choice. But i believe that this sort of development will be good for the community. For the environment for jobs and for the Tourism Sector was. A very also supplies products to the hotel where thomas as a needless works as manager he is the thoris believe that the future of depends on supporting and expanding local commerce and resources. The local beaches are popular with tourists. During the spring and Summer Hotels guesthouses and other accommodations are usually fully booked hotel owners are trying to attract more tourists by extending the high season and targeting new demographic groups. They want to focus on promoting a high quality Travel Experience that highlights the Region Special features. Thomas as a need us says that the region has a lot to offer. If the identity of our area local production is the pride of how we have so much gold being produced here in terms of. Products. That really we could leave only with those. Promotion and marketing of our area. Local hotel owners have been demanding that the government do more to improve infrastructure. Some of them even finance various improvements themselves like High Speed Internet Services thomas as the need is tells us that his hotel the Alexandra Palace spent more than 80000 euros of this so far. The hotel philistine it was built at the end of the 1980s at that time most of the guests were greeks germans and britons. Today many of the visitors come from nearby balkan countries like bulgaria romania and serbia. The number of greek guests has fallen off sharply in recent years mostly due to the countrys financial crisis. Several years ago gregorios to sirius took over as the hotels manager before that his parents had managed the facility. The family is invested
a lot of money and proving the accommodations. For sis as president of the car could equal Hotel Association and the National Hotel arrows federation. Says he believes that turns them in greece has a Bright Future either napoleon mailable had what it is dangerous to demand the exploitation of the underground treasures in our region but we should focus instead on the potential of the tourism industry. Including the development of Alternative Tourism i can trails and golf courses. But we also need major Infrastructure Improvements myke roads and projects that add value to the Tourism Sector. And of course wed like to have a round line that links the bestseller to calcutta dicky in a felony to boston held in. Thomas as leaders serves on the board of the coca dk
Hotel Association but spends a lot of time lobbying local and National Politicians for improvements in the Regional Tourism industry. Im not going to ask for 2 months and thats the basics roads. Very odd system in how giving not the best trains. Imagine just getting on a train in half an hour youre at the beach from the saloniki it will boost. The federal ministry of Economy Development of tourism dollars that its now financing 14 road projects in calcavecchia alone at a cost of more than 35000000. 00 euros. Expansion work continues at the airport of their saloniki. This facility and 13 or to Regional Airports in greece and now managed by a subsidiary of the German Company fraport. Greece needs more investment especially now that the e. U. Is ended its Financial Assistance program. But mines have a limited lifespan. The Skerries Facility would only be open for about 23 years. Then theres the man the. We want sustainable Economic Growth and for that well need sustainable jobs. But gold mining is not sustainable and Mineral Resources will run out one day and people who worked in the mines will have to find new jobs thats happened before in this region that. Lets them know what i raise these points at the Regional Development conference in thessaloniki in march 2018. My stand on this issue is well known to the sciri to party and to the Prime MinisterAlexis Sipress and the Minister Of Development and tourism youre your
star talkies. And over the years all of them have expressed support for my position. On the scene for new and theres no to the camera stops in the one. Weve come to thessaloniki to interview journalists the liers naked topless. Hes done several reports in the Mining Industry in the region he says that the government will have to make some tough choices as it decides whether to sign off for the skerries mine. You may hear further in the quote the more feel after the government to earn income from gold mining that a smelter will have to be built to produce pure gold not just concentrate like now. But if that smelter is built it could cause Serious Health problems among the local residents. If. Thats the be controlled to see if the government approves the Scowrers Mine. It will be risking the health of people who
live near it. The book of esther everything they havent voted on. Still is shows as a video of the 2017 t. V. Report. Its the helis gold Managing Director talks about the new Floating Smelting Process that the Company Wants to use. To for us this would be the 1st time anywhere in the world that this Floating Smelting Process would be used to extract gold in a location that has high concentrations of arsenic. Yet that means theyll be taking a pretty big risk. But even if the permits for the sky was gold mine were turned down sterling is like a topless predicts that the mining will continue in the region. By the European Union is on record as saying that it wants Member States to become
selfsufficient in the extraction of raw materials. That could mean turning all of Northern Greece into a mining zone the Eldorado Company is already looking at potential sites around the city of kill keysar trad o. P. Mountains and in the ever else river. Meanwhile were still waiting outside the helots gold mine in st tony. We sent them a Written Request for an interview 13 months ago but the Security Guard still wont let us in. By by. Well. The company has put up a sign that says nature hides power and prosperity in the depths of the earth but what lies ahead for the mining of the stream greece. Can large and potentially dangerous projects because he doubts only in countries that disregard Environmental Protection rules and ignore the civil rights of citizens. The acceptance is
essential and you cannot have the Business Group cannot have. Any Industrial Production in naria words dont accept it. As we drive through the forest at skerries were followed by a police car. Or rear cutler says that whenever she turns up at the mine Company Officials call the cops security is tight everywhere around the mine theres not much transparency here. So this is only a very small part of it and also you have to think thats good this is only the beginning this month and cock of those has many mean that out of the posits of gold and copper deposits identified by the company there are over 37 Mining Concessions if you are allow this to happen then those so the entire mountain will be full of holes open pits and things. I do hope that the people will still have that this will not make it happen but it is extremely depressing to come here its like an open wound local people come up here and cry it has taken. It has taken a lot of tears and a lot of blood and then a lot of. Several weeks after we finished filming for this Report School sent us a letter. The company said that it would fulfill all of its contractual obligations they noted that they had already invested about 750000000. 00 in this project. And said that this Mining Facility will create jobs and generate revenue for the greek government. In September 28th Dean Heller Skull filed an out of court claim for damages demanding 750000000. 00 neurons and compensation from the greek government. The company said that suffered huge financial losses because the authorities kept stalling on granting permits for the scams mine sort of dispute between heller scolded the government turned political. In the center 2018 the Greek Council of states the countrys highest Administrative Court began deliberations and whether to allow the Mining Companies to use the controversial Floating Smelting Process. Its a complex situation for the region and for greece as a whole should the countrys Mineral Resources be exploited simply to provide revenue for the governments or should greece focus on developing other less profitable sectors of its economy. How do you define process and losses anyway. The
ancient greek philosopher ira stoppel summed it up well enough nature is constant well this is not. A Resort Village in umbria. Then your its an olive grove. A monument to human dignity. A scarf for 820 euros. Whats the connection here. Its the short version of a long story about the billionaire and champion of workers rights now look. 30 minutes and. If you ever have to cover up a murder best way is to make an accident. Raring to. Read a book like this. Mr jermyn street. The only order of history in the world is reorganizing itself and the medias role. Shifting colors the topic in focus at the Global Media Forum 2019 told the laboratory of the digital age to such who are responsible and whom do we trust to debate and shape the future as the Global Media Forum 20 monkeyed the place made for mind its