The City Council meeting on 15 April 2013 didn't clear the worries of the people of Košice about uranium mining
The City Council meeting on 15 April 2013 didn't clear the worries of the people of Košice about uranium mining
(PRESS RELEASE)
The City Council of Košice on 15 April 2013 repeated its negative attitude to uranium mining, however, the declarative form of the resolution didn't clear the worries of the people. Although already at the previous meeting of the City Council taking place in February we had presented them our reasonable requirements against mining, the City Council didn't offer any alternative to an alibistic resolution proposed by the mayor Richard Raši.
The topic was included to the programme in the very last moment, it had not been pre-discussed in Council Commissions, neither the materials nor the resolution proposal had been made available beforehand so that neither the deputies nor the citizens could have made themselves familiar with it.
Although the minister of environment Peter Žiga declared that he, too, was against the mining, at the same time he warned against the threat that the mining company could reclaim a financial compensation in case the uranium geological survey was cancelled. This warning clearly means pressure on the right of citizens to freely express their opinion as well as pressure on independent decision-making of licensing institutions.
Today's City Council meeting hasn't moved the problem of uranium mining at all, therefore our previous requirements remain still valid.
We demand a cancellation of the "Memorandum of understanding" signed by the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic and the mining company. The memorandum puts the country to an unfavourable position as it doesn't rule out the possibility of reclaiming a compensation in case the survey is cancelled or the uranium mining is not allowed.
We still insist on the requirement to impose a moratorium on uranium mining as well as on the requirement to investigate the legitimacy of the decision to prolong the period for the geological survey, which was made without a proper notification of the city of Košice as the participant of the decision-making process. We demand the City Council to set obligatory regulations for the geological survey area that will represent a guarantee of a moratorium on mining radioactive minerals.
In Košice, on 15 April 2013
On behalf of the initiative
"NO to uranium mining and processing in Košice"
Slovak association for preservation of nature and countryside, Košice 2013
Ing. Karol Labaš