Author Topic: Uzumlu is not alone in its fight against Quarries  (Read 1594 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline wallace

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 487
  • Location: United Kingdom
Uzumlu is not alone in its fight against Quarries
« on: September 25, 2008, 00:01:36 AM »
Locals protest against quarry project
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The locals of a village in Urla, izmir fight against a quarry to be opened near the village. The area of the quarry is in the middle of greenhouses and six reservoirs that supply water for the village, in addition to being 150 meters from the historical church in the village, argue villagers, who think the area should be preserved for organic agriculture

iZMiR - Turkish Daily News


  A quarry to be built in the village of Nohutalan, near izmir's Urla, has caused uproar among locals. The villagers, who envision their future in organic agriculture and are preparing to obtain a certificate allowing them to fulfill this ambition, have protested against the project.

  The quarry, which will be operated by the Mostar Mine Marketing company, is located only 200 meters from houses, and 75 meters from over 6,000 organically certified olive trees and is in the center of the village's water supply and farming areas.

  The locals of Nohutalan have been fighting against the quarry since May. They first signed a petition against the license and later filed a suit with the administrative court for it to be revoked.

  Stating that the area where Mostar Mine Marketing wants to quarry is in the middle of greenhouses and six reservoirs that supply water for the village, in addition to being 150 meters from the historical church in the village, locals also claimed that they were not aware of the Environmental Impact Assessment, or EIA, considering the operation of the quarry. According to law, locals should have been informed about the EIA report.

  "The decision for obtaining licenses should first come to the local village head," said Metin Gümüs, a local and one of the petitioners. "Then he should discuss with us. The villagers do not even know about the matter. We asked the village head about this matter and he said he did not know anything."

  The company argued that the rock braking operation would not be run in the village, Gümüs said. "They said that they will just take 40-50 trucks of rock everyday and process it somewhere else. But there was a quarry here earlier. It was taking out one or two trucks of rocks a day and even that was disturbing for us. The mine used to work with small machines, but now it has switched to using dynamite to extract more rock."

  The village will become uninhabitable if the mine begins operation, according to Gümüs. "The most untouched village in this region is ours but they are trying to destroy it by using the old quarries."

  Aydin Ero&glu, who runs a winery and a greenhouse, stated that the quarry would also affect underground water. "The village did not have water for over 50 years," he said. "Just when we found water and started operating greenhouses, they want to build a quarry here. This is a first degree-earthquake area. As soon as they blow a dynamite to extract rocks, we will lose the water we have, and I'm not including the dust and the noise of the trucks passing through the village."

  Ero&glu believes that the future of the village lies in organic agriculture.

  "We've set our future on organic agriculture. If this quarry opens, our future will be ruined. They closed the old quarry because it was too hazardous, I can not understand why they are reopening such a dangerous quarry."

  Halit Gümüs, a 77-year-old local, cited that the damage done by the re-opened quarry cannot be repaired, and said: "Neither what we reap, nor what we sow will do any good for us. We work in agriculture and we plant a lot of crops. And people like what we produce. They come from far places for our melons. If the quarry opens everything will end."

 

Against the law

  Levent Köstem, who owns 300,000 square meters of land and over 6,000 organically certified olive trees, said that he obtained a certificate for figs and olives, but they are working on obtaining an organic agriculture certificate for the whole village. Claiming that the permission that was given to Mostar Mine Marketing company was illegal, Köstem said: "First of all, the mining facilities license regulation requires research about possible damages of the mines before allowing such establishments. Also according to the law, establishments besides olive production such as heavy industry, thermal power plants and reactors are not allowed within three kilometers of the olive trees. However the quarry is right next to my 6,000 olive trees. Moreover, it is written on the license that the trucks have to use a road outside the village but the road goes through it."

   






Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf