Municipality calls for “immediate halt” to Barroso mining project

Continuing to support its constituents, Boticas municipal council is calling today for “the immediate suspension” of the lithium mining project championed by British company Savannah Resources.

Savannah has only just won a ‘reprieve’ from a judicial embargo on a second ‘administrative easement’, granted by the government and essentially allowing it to invade properties it does not own.

The community fighting against Savannah’s intentions has vowed to continue fighting – accusing the government of bending over backwards for a foreign company, ignoring environmental breaches and reams of information attesting to the potential harm that mining will cause the area and its natural resources.

Now, Boticas municipality has added its voice, underscoring the iniquities at play:

““In a context where concessions are determined by the interests of multinational mining companies, (we call for) the immediate suspension of the process relating to lithium mining in Covas do Barroso,” said the motion “Barroso’s riches belong to the people!” approved last night.

The motion is being sent to the prime minister, the Speaker of parliament and all parliamentary groups.

The text begins by stating that “facts relating to the Barroso mine project continue to mount up, reinforcing justified concerns and continuing to provoke outrage amongst those living in the district.

“We are talking about handing over our wealth to private groups; we are talking about processes lacking transparency; we are talking about the direct transfer of public funds to private entities; we are talking about decisions by the authorities motivated solely by an effort to support the direct interests of the private company, as is the case with administrative easement,” it adds.

In May, the ministry for the environment authorised a second administrative easement, allowing Savannah to access communal and private land for geotechnical work; this was challenged in court through an interim injunction filed by the Governing Board of the Baldios of the Parish of Covas do Barroso, which led to the suspension of prospecting activities for around 20 days.

Savannah announced on Monday that it can resume work after the ministry for the environment issued a Reasoned Resolution invoking the public interest of the project.

The immediate Barroso community has already decried the government’s position. The municipality puts the boot in:

“This decision by the government is an affront to the people of Covas do Barroso, who for years have been waging an intense struggle against the exploitation of the Barroso mine for the extraction of lithium and other minerals which, from all that is known about the process, primarily benefits foreign capital to whom the State has handed over one of Europe’s largest lithium deposits, without the slightest regard for national interests or the livelihoods of local people”.

This entire process, it adds, “is taking place without taking into account the interests of local residents, who have found in successive governments not a defender of the territory, but a promoter of Savannah’s interests, including through the handing over of tens of millions of euros of public funds”.

The document points out that this year, the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP), acting on behalf of the State, announced the allocation of €110 million in financial support to Savannah Resources for the Barroso lithium mine.

“It’s a disgrace! It wasn’t enough to hand over our minerals; on top of that, the Portuguese State is paying – and handsomely – a private company to exploit our wealth,” thunders the motion.

“With €110 million, just think of what could be done for the people of Boticas and Covas do Barroso: housing, the national health service, roads, public transport, care homes for the elderly, schools – in short, so many things that are sorely needed.”

Yet, instead, the government continues to champion a cause that ‘sacrifices’ an entire community.

Source material: LUSA