AMERICA/URUGUAY - A Bishop joins the "Commission for Life and water"

Tacuarembó (Agenzia Fides) - The bishop of the diocese of Tacuarembó (Uruguay), His Exc. Mgr. Julio César Bonino Bonino, announced his decision to join the "Commission Tacuarembó for life and water," which aims to promote the campaign to declare the Tacuarembó region "free from open pit mines." In the note sent to Fides Agency by the Episcopal Conference of Uruguay, the Bishop explains that "the residents of our rural areas have come to share concerns they are experiencing after finding requests for their property, that are to be used for projects in the mining industry. "The Bishop is deeply concerned about the "accelerated expansion of extractive industries, whose activities often have a negative impact on the lives of people."
The "Commission Tacuarembó for life and water" is made up of citizens, journalists, farmers, entrepreneurs, workers, union representatives, are all concerned about the possible installation of open-pit mines in the area, particularly in the department of Tacuarembó. In the village there is a division between those who want to propose the mining industry as a priority and those who want to protect the environment at any cost. On 12 September the campaign started to collect signatures against the mining industry in the department of Treninta y Tres. At the moment Uruguay is having to deal with the construction of a mega project for the extraction of iron in different parts of the country (departments of Treinta y Tres, Florida, Cerro Largo and Durazno) and other minerals, at the request of neighboring Brazil, which has launched several construction projects in view of the Football World Cup (2014) and Olympic Games (2016). (CE) (Agenzia Fides 27/09/2012)