Closure of mines opportunity for ‘green jobs’–labor group

A labor group on Monday said that the closure of 23 large-scale mining firms in the country will open opportunities for “green jobs.”

READ: DENR shuts down 23 mining areas

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) said that green jobs will “[repair] the damage caused by massive mineral extraction that only benefited a few miners and bankers.”

“True to form, the miners are using employment to argue for continued mining operations as if they went to business primarily to provide jobs like bleeding heart philanthropists. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” BMP president Leody de Guzman said in a statement.

De Guzman said that the miners only care for profit, and not for the environment or agricultural livelihood.

“The imperative is to repair the damage caused by these mines. The state should compel these mining corporations to repair the damage [they have] caused. After all, they have the financial and human capital to do it,” he added.

Meanwhile, workers from LNL Archipelagic Mining Inc. (LAMI), Benguet Nickel Mines Inc. (BNMI) and Eramin Minerals Incorporated (EMI), who are also members of Mining Workers for the Environment Association (MWEA), have proposed to help in restoring the environment and repairing the damage caused by the mines.

These three companies were among those who were ordered by the DENR to cease their operations.

“Mine workers in Zambales are more than willing and able to plant trees, filter water systems, etc. If they had other options, the MWEA members said they would rather quit mining minerals and help in restoring the damage brought by massive corporate mining. Hence, green jobs could replace destructive employment of the closed mines,” De Guzman added.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Gina Lopez earlier said that the agency will develop the sites to create a “green economy” that can create more jobs than mining. She also assured that DENR will definitely take care of those who will lose their jobs due to the closure. CDG/rga

READ: Lopez: ‘Green economy can create more jobs than mining’