Antinuclear

Australian uranium company slack on safety in Africa

Miner accused on slack safety
The Age TOM HYLAND S eptember 20, 2009 AN AUSTRALIAN company has begun production at its uranium mine in Malawi amid renewed controversy over the operation in one of Africa’s poorest nations.The project has been dogged by criticism as the Perth-based company Paladin Energy develops the $US200 million ($A230 million) Kayelekera mine and processing plant in northern Malawi………….Local critics say Paladin has been able to extract lax safety standards from the Malawi Government, which hopes revenue from the mine will help drag its country out of poverty.
Paladin operates one other mine, in Namibia, and has focused on Africa because of political restrictions in Australia, which company director John Borshoff complains is ”over-sophisticated” in its approach to uranium………..

The company’s approach has caused friction with local non-government groups, which took legal action to impose tougher controls on the project in 2007. The case was settled out of court.

Since then it has been accused of lax safety standards (three workers have died in accidents this year) and failing to bring promised benefits to local communities

………..The latest controversy – over claims Paladin has obstructed critics from inspecting the project – coincides with glowing praise from the Federal Government for Australian miners in Africa.

In a recent speech to a mining industry conference in Perth, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australian companies ”have a well-earned reputation for integrity, for good mining practice, for mining safety, for environmental sustainability and protection, and for developing the skills of their workforce.”…………..

Reinford Mwagonde, director of environment and human rights lobby group Citizens for Justice Malawi (CJM) and a persistent critic of Paladin, disputes Mr Smith’s account.

Although Australian companies might have the attributes that Mr Smith ascribes to them, these were not being exported to Africa, Mr Mwagonde said.

Stringent monitoring and environment protection measures, like those at the Ranger mine in the Northern Territory, were lacking in Malawi,…….. Paladin, who are hawkish and aggressive in their approach.”

Mr Mwagonde said a report on Malawi’s draft uranium regulations concluded Paladin would be allowed to self-regulate, particularly in controlling contaminated water flowing into Lake Malawi, a major source of food and water.

The report, by Darwin-based scientific consultant Howard Smith, said the regulations were ”essentially a self-regulation system, which will ultimately result in releases (of contaminated water) that are under-reported, uncontrolled and hidden from the affected public”.

Miner accused on slack safety

September 20, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international, uranium | antinuclear, Australia, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium