Following Bankwatch’s revelations about toxic pollutants at the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia, the smelter’s owner, Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals (DPM), contested our findings in Namibian news reports. Without substantiating its claims with facts, however, and in light of the results of local health surveys the company’s reassurances ring hollow and meaningless.
The case of the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia demonstrates how European pollution is being exported to the Global South with the indirect help of public development money.
Last week Namibian news outlets reported on Bankwatch's findings on the potential impacts of Dundee Precious Metals' (DPM) operations in the country. Yet, in light of the company's response we believe a number of points need to be stressed.
The complaints office at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has agreed to investigate a complaint from Bankwatch that a railway project in Georgia has not been properly assessed. Georgian Bankwatcher Dato Chipashvili thinks the case should be a lesson for the EBRD to make sure that from the start local people have their say in how projects are done.
English
Русский
