Letter: A safe and well-regulated gold mine is the objective - not illegal ones that pollute the world
A letter from S Wilson:
Ben Lowry’s piece ‘Huge delay in gold mine bid is a farcical reflection on NI’ (April 4) is all too accurate.
We seem to be completely incapable of dealing with almost any issue in a timely and professional way – rather – our politicians and senior civil servants appear to always look for as many reason to defer a decision as is humanly possible. Rather pathetic.
One thing that might (conceivably) make a difference to the public inquiry's outcome is an acknowledgement that most objectors seem quite happy to use everyday items that require gold – like their smart phones – even if a fifth of the world’s gold (including that ‘managed’ into the legitimate market) has been mined in appalling conditions and with huge environmental damage.
I would recommend the objectors look at the UN Environment Programme page on this type of unregulated and mostly illegal mining and honestly reflect on their findings:
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining produces 20% of the world’s gold; involves 4–5 million women and children; and releases 35% of all the mercury released into the global environment.
Perhaps I’m being too hard. Of course they are right – better to let dirt-poor women and children live and die in illegal gold mines that also massively pollute the world than have a well-regulated and safe gold mine in the Sperrins – especially if we can be confident we will get our next phone as cheap as possible.
S Wilson, Magheralin