A convoy consisting of more than 85 buses and dozens of private vehicles descended on Athens, transporting approximately 4,000 workers from the gold-mines in Halkidiki in the north of Greece and their supporters for a demonstration in Athens demanding the mines be allowed to continue to operate.
At the same time a counter-march is planned in Athens by protesters demanding the mines be closed due to the extensive environmental damage they cause which impacts other economic activities such as tourism and farming in the area.
The protesting miners congregated outside the Ministry of Productive Reconstruction of the Economy and the Environment effectively shutting down the central thoroughfare of Mesogeion Avenue.
The Minister of Productive Reconstruction, Panayiotis Lafazanis recently recalled building permits for the mines citing questions with regards to the environmental studies on which they were based, ordering them to be re-examined.
The SYRIZA government has been ambivalent about the operation of the mines, seeking to appease both worker unions as well as those opposing the operation who claim they effectively amount to a ransacking of Greece’s mineral wealth for few short-term benefits.
A meeting between union leaders and the Deputy Minister of the Environment Giorgos Tsironis failed to result in any breakthrough. Tsironis assured the workers that the government was merely abiding by the law. However the workers pledged not to back down until the administration expresses clear support for the continued operation of the mine. Representatives of the unions insisted that the move to suspend the permits was baseless.
“We are the real residents of Chalkidiki who have the honor of working in the mines. We came to Athens to demonstrate for the prosperity of our land, the continuation of the investment and we will stay for as long as necessary,” Giorgos Hatzis the president of a regional workers union told the Athens News Agency.
Fears of violence
Recently violent clashes broke out between groups of pro and anti-mining demonstrators in Halkidiki following the recalls of the permits.
Now police are concerned that such clashes may be imported to the capital. Security measures are being put in place in order to keep the rival demonstrations separate.
The miners and their supporters are planning to march on parliament from the ministry building, and camp in Syntagma square.
On the opposing side, the Solidarity Committee with Halkidiki Residents have planned a demonstration at 18.00 in the evening in the center of Athens outside the gates of the Athens Polytechnic.
“Our support concerns the part of the society in Halkidiki which is fighting not for their personal interest, but for the common, collective gain,” the organizers of the anti-gold protests write.
The Skouries mine which is operated by the Canadian El Dorado Gold company has come under heavy criticism for plans which critics say will seriously impact the environment, clear cutting vast swathes of mature forest and polluting the water table with heavy metals.
Meanwhile a recently revealed tax avoidance scheme operated by the company which exploits lax Dutch laws and mailbox companies in the Netherlands means that the Greek state is likely to see little revenue from the activity of the company which is seeking billions in profits from the mines in Halkidiki.
For its part El Dorado insists that it adheres to all relevant environmental legislation and stresses its role as an employer in an area hit particularly hard by unemployment.
El Dorado Gold has also been accused of instigating violence by encouraging demonstrating workers to clash with anti-gold protesters.
The Ministry of Productive Reconstruction accused the company of behaving like a ‘state within a state’ and seeking to blackmail the government by instigating the protests.
Meanwhile the Public Order Minister Yiannis Panousis said, following the recent Halkidiki clashes that if the situation was not resolved politically there would be casualties.
“In Skouries we will have deaths, if the phenomenon is not countered. I saw how the police reacted, I also saw people in camouflage firing nuts and bolts from slingshots. We have 3,000 employees at the mines and 500 residents with their opinion, who will clash if there is not police. The role of the police in Skouries is for the two warring sides not to kill each other,” the minister had said.
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