Due to the impact of QMM on local lakes, fishermen have lost nearly half of their annual income over a decade (2022 work plan).
Based on available information, fishers and usufructs receive compensation equivalent to only about £29 per year for each of the 13 years of the loss period.
This amount is equivalent to a month’s income of a subsistence farmer living on less than $2 a day.
Landowners have reported payments as low as £0.02 per square meter in one payment received.
Furthermore, between payments, the QMM imposes new penalties on the villagers, giving little in one hand and taking a lot in the other.
For example, the QMM created a red zone that encloses natural resources, including a river and two local lakes that do not belong to them.
These water resources are publicly owned, but QMM told the villagers that they could no longer use them.
Unlawful
Not only is there no explanation for why the lakes are suddenly off-limits after a decade of mining — but QMM has no legal mandate to impose such restrictions.
These lakes are the main source of water livelihoodproviding food and drinking water to most of the approximately 15,000 villagers who live around the mine, thanks to QMM, who have no alternatives to subsistence.
QMM has also announced that, despite local opposition, it will expropriate the last remaining rice fields for a community and will relocate the sacred tombs of ancestors, we heard.
These and other conditions that appear to accompany QMM payments are not transparently reported.
They manifest as the behavior of a company eager to assert state-like power, Far from the humility, confession or caring that Rio Tinto has been preaching since the Juukan Gorge collapse.
These actions may deepen the misery and resentment of rural producers living on the poverty line, who have already lost more than they can afford to QMM.
unfair
Issues with the compensation process have been ongoing since November last year Growing with Rio Tinto By posting your paid Madagascar (PWYP MG), Andrew Lees Trust (ALT UK) and the Malagasy diaspora.
When asked in February for details of QMM’s agreements with villagers, the company declined, claiming the arrangements were “confidential”.
The company insisted that notaries and mediators were present at the negotiations. However, these officers are employed by QMM and there is no guarantee of independence.
Villagers did not have third-party advisors during the negotiation and establishment of legal agreements, undermining any claim that the QMM process was fair.
Rio Tinto’s inappropriate insistence on secrecy about its arrangements with traditional owners was cited several times in the Juukan Gorge investigative report, which prevented them from speaking out when needed.
The villagers of Antanosy have been going through the same situation, being ‘plugged’ by QMM, which should be of concern to the company and its investors.
Incidents of coercion and intimidation reported to Rio Tinto by civil society last November should also be ignored.
intimidate
It should not be forgotten that when the 2022 protests began, QMM vilified the rural villagers who took to the streets, lamenting that they were a small group of politically motivated extortionists.
Since this is a national election year in Madagascar, the authorities and QMM are likely to try again to politicize the situation and criminalize dissidents.
Local leader Eugene Chretien has been arrested and banned from holding public meetings. His crimes: small personal debts, civil cases already settled with creditors.
hundreds of people protest Outside court, it is believed that QMM was behind the unnecessary arrest to suppress the rally and block a recent petition signed by thousands of locals against the company.
Both the leader and his lawyer have been intimidated and threatened while in police custody.lawyer is file a lawsuit against the local police.
Meanwhile, a local village representative filed a complaint against QMM in court, citing insufficient compensation.
Far from de-escalating the conflict and restoring peace to the region, the QMM appears to have sabotaged that opportunity and instead stoked more unrest, while generally attempting to pass the buck.
investigation
When the CEO asked Madagascar civil society representatives at a meeting met in london last july Whether the problem with QMM could be fixed, he was told “yes – but only if the correct changes were made”.
In the absence of positive changes, PWYP MG, ALT UK and Madagascar representatives demand comprehensive independent audit QMM process.
QMM’s insistence on confidentiality is itself justification for an independent audit.
Audit should cover technology to society.structural reasons QMM Dam Failureuntil compensation to affected community members thereafter.
It should fully explain the death of the fish, and water quality Questions that have been debated since the last century QMM buffer corruption Proposed in 2017.
Importantly, it should involve the community and civil society in scoping, framing and monitoring the audit process to ensure it is credible, answers all outstanding questions and has the courage to correct any mistakes.
If Rio Tinto wants to convince the people of Madagascar and the world at large that it has changed since the Juukan Gorge, it must start delivering concrete manifestations of its intentions.
right of reply
A Rio Tinto spokesman told ecologist: “The recently concluded compensation process was led by the local authority and was the result of a charter signed by representatives of QMM, the government, the local community and local NGOs, and in the presence of a mediator and two independent observers from the community conducted under experts selected and agreed upon by the parties to ensure objectivity, transparency and neutrality of the dialogue. Throughout the process, the QMM provides resources to all parties to fund external expert advice, if required. All The outcome negotiations were shared with the complainants by their representatives. In order to protect the identities of the beneficiaries, and in accordance with international best practice, QMM did not make the outcome public. QMM never instituted a ‘gag order’.”
He added: “Following three cyclones and extreme rainfall in Fort Dauphin in early 2022, a controlled release of water will need to be authorized by Madagascar regulators to ensure the integrity of our infrastructure and the environment surrounding our operations. QMM water sample analysis and A study by the assessment regulator showed no significant change in water quality in the receiving natural environment, and no link between mine activity and observations of dead fish by community members. Although there was no evidence of impact, the South African Center for Environmental Research Water The Research Group (WRG) was commissioned by QMM. This study investigated the causes of the fish kill phenomenon, analyzing a series of fish, water and sediment samples collected from the same sites where the fish died as other key monitoring points. The study’s Preliminary results, due in the coming months, conclude that the 2022 fish kills are unlikely to be caused by any metal concentrations in the fish.”
the author
Yvonne Orengo is an independent communications consultant and director Andrew Lees Trust (ALT UK) A British charity established following the death of its namesake in 1994. She lives and works in southern Madagascar developing social and environmental programs and has been following the development of the Rio Tinto/QMM mine for twenty-seven years. ALT UK worked with Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Malagasy and international campaigners to research and publicize the impact of the QMM mine on rural communities in the Anossi region of southern Madagascar.
