| Home
Programmes
Resources
Press
Information
Membership
Links
Search
Contact
Us |
"The
Hangman's Noose"
Are you in queue for the
hangman’s noose? |
During slavery and the Victorian
era, the hangman’s noose was the most feared symbol of life and death.
Presently, in the era of neo-capitalism and globalisation, corporate greed
is viewed by many as the hangman’s noose. Corporate accountability is now
a subject of concern for a wide range of groups campaigning on issues including
human rights, environment, development and labour.
Corporate crimes committed
on all continents across a range of industrial activities in various sectors
(e.g. chemicals, oil, mining,
|
genetic engineering etc.) clearly
point towards the need for greater control, monitoring and accountability
of corporate activity in a globalised economy. Swaziland has not been spared
from the hangman’s noose. Xstrata are a multinational Swiss mining house
with interests in energy, forestry, metals and integrated ferrochrome and
vanadium production. The multinational has subsidiaries in countries such
as Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and the USA to mention a few.
This multinational does not have a clean track record in terms of corporate
accountability and responsibility in South Africa. Xstrata have now settled
in Swaziland at Swazi Vanadium in Maloma. Xstrata have entered into a joint
venture with Tibiyo Taka Ngwane to process ferrovanadium.
It was all glitz and glamour
at the official opening of the Swazi Vanadium plant in Maloma. Top government
officials, ministers, businessmen and media representatives toasted to
the official opening of the plant. At this meeting the management of Xstrata
blatantly lied and stated that vanadium does not pose a health hazard to
people and the environment. Yonge Nawe used this statement, as an opportunity
to highlight the hazards of vanadium exposure.
PRESS
STATEMENT
Processing
Ferro Vanadium Does Pose A Health Hazard To The Environment And Employees
Following
the article "New Company Invests E10m" in the Swazi Observer, page 6, dated
May 15 2003, Yonge Nawe Environmental Action Group feels it is important
to share the following self-explanatory article.
Multinational
Company `Xstrata' poisons miners
Nine
years ago, poverty-stricken rural residents in Steelpoort thought that
the arrival of a US $25 million vanadium mine in the area would bring prosperity
and improve their quality of life.
It never
crossed their minds that multinational Swiss mining company Xstrata AG
and its local Vanadium Technologies (VanTech) operation might instead be
a hangman's noose. But with four workers dead and scores more poisoned
by the toxic chemicals used in the mine, villagers are beginning to ask
whether they are being exploited by one of the world's largest mining corporations.
The National
Union of Mineworkers (NUM) claims that Xstrata has poisoned almost half
of its work-force over the past six years... A damming independent academic
study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine in 1999
confirms that some workers were exposed to 50 times the maximum limit of
vanadium pentoxide, sulphur dioxide, and ammonia. www.web.ca/~iccaf.
Published
in the interests of the environment and sustainable development.
Source:
Times of Swaziland, 19 May 2003 pg. 7 |
As a result of this press release,
workers at the vanadium plant demanded a management explanation on the
occupational health and safety hazards of processing vanadium.
Workers at Swazi vanadium plant
are already terrified that the toxic chemicals in the plants production
process have already poisoned them. The employees mentioned that
they were experiencing chest pains and itchy eyes, which they believed
was a result of the toxic chemicals. Swazi vanadium workers now exposed
to the "hangman’s noose." It is high time government together with
civil society weigh the benefit of job creation as opposed to the negative
impact of pollution on the environment and the health of people. The Swaziland
government must ensure that corporations adhere to the highest standards
for protecting basic human and social rights including health and the environment.
Consistent with Rio Declaration Principle 14, which states that governments
must not permit multinational corporations to deliberately apply lower
standards of operation and safety in places where health and environmental
protection regimes, or their implementation, are weaker. Civil society
representatives at the World Summit On Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
last year also called for an international regulatory mechanism to hold
corporates accountable for their bad practices. If Swaziland allows corporates
to play double standards, we are all exposing ourselves to the "hangman’s
noose."
|
