Today, dozens of people from rural communities in the Dominican Republic living next to the world’s sixth largest gold mine are joined by allies from across the country as they enter their third day of protests. Over the last two days, community members marched over 100 kilometers to the capital, Santo Domingo, culminating with today’s protest in front of the National Palace and the Ministries of Mining and the Environment. They are calling on the national government to relocate their families away from the mine to an area where they can live with dignity in a healthy environment.

For nearly a decade, 450 families from six communities living downstream from the Pueblo Viejo mine, a joint venture between Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold and U.S.-based Newmont, have been asking to be relocated, as they have been suffering the impacts of mining operations and waste storage. Residents report having to clean their houses daily to remove a layer of black dust that accumulates on every surface, as well as a series of health issues, contamination of local rivers, and harms to their crops and livestock. Because of significant water contamination, communities have received bottled water for drinking and food preparation since 2011, initially from the company then from the government.

Today communities presented President Luis Abinader, along with his newly appointed Ministers of the Environment and of Energy and Mines, with their formal demand for the government to immediately begin the process for community relocation. While the government carried out a census in 2018 that identified the 450 families living within an area of direct impact by mining operations, little progress has been made to move the families to a safer environment.

“We have marched to the office of the President of the Republic to ask him to listen to us, to consider what is happening to us and our families, and to support our demands of justice for our communities and for our people,” said Leoncia Ramos from the Comité Nuevo Renacer, the organization representing impacted communities. “We have the right to life, but Barrick Gold and the government have taken that away from us.”

The mining companies have not addressed these concerns. Instead, they are pushing to expand mining operations and extend the mine’s life for an additional 25 years with a project that would triple the amount of land the companies lease for mining operations, create a second waste storage dam, and displace additional communities. An independent review of the expansion plans found that they failed to consider the safest options for waste management and the environmental review was incomplete.

“These protests illustrate the strength and organizing capacity of communities living downstream of the Pueblo Viejo mine,” said Jan Morrill, Tailings Campaign Manager at Earthworks. “These communities have been paying the cost for mining at Pueblo Viejo for too long. They have the right to a healthy future.”

Pictures of the march and protests are available upon request.
 

Media contacts: 

• Diana Martin, MiningWatch Canada, [email protected] 
• Jan Morrill, Earthworks, [email protected]