Democratic Republic of Congo, the communities of South Kivu are asking for social works and the payment of taxes to companies that extract gold
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ROME (DIRE agency) – Collective lawsuits to assert their rights against those who appropriate land resources leaving behind pollution and devastation: this is the possibility that opens up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the birth of an association that brings together victims of illegal gold mining. The story, reported by sources from theDire Agency on site, comes from the eastern province of South Kivu and in particular from the parish of Santo Spirito in Kitutu. In the area, especially along the course of the river Elila, the Oriental Resources Congo (Orc) and other Chinese companies.
Payment of taxes and works for the community is requested. The mining activities have come under fire following the publication of a journalistic documentary, which prompted the local governor to launch an investigation and to ask for the respect of a series of conditions, from the payment of taxes to the creation of works of social value to reward the communities. Sources of To say they confirmed the destruction of cassava and rice fields and damage to fish farming, oil palm plantations and more generally the land along the banks of the Elila, gutted by the drills and desertified.
The most affected villages. At the end of last week the statute of the Association was approved, which will now be deposited in the competent offices of the capital Bukavu thanks to the help of representatives of a local NGO, Bureau d’Etudes Scientifiques et Techniques (Best). “The 12 founders of the Association represent the most affected villages, from which the approximately 80 participants in the assembly that approved the statute also came” Father Davide Marcheselli, diocesan priest of Bologna who promotes the initiative, at work with the Xaverians in Kitutu. “The commitment is to ensure that the victims can act on a legal level, favoring investigations by the competent authorities and perhaps bringing a trial against past and present abuses given that foreign companies continue to dig”. The exploitation of gold deposits in eastern Congo has long been a source of concern. UN experts have denounced the possibility of “much higher volumes of gold being smuggled than those sold through legal channels”.
* Vincenzo Giardina DIRE Agency
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