World
 
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Peru government creates unit to stave off social conflicts
MarketWatch
Lima
Petroleumworld.com 10 26 06
The Peruvian government officially created a high level commission to prevent social conflicts before they escalate into protests, according to a resolution published Wednesday.
"The objective of the conflict prevention unit is to locate the problem before it explodes," Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo told foreign journalists this week.
Peru has become one of the world's leading producers of minerals such as gold, copper and zinc in recent years.
The industry, however, has been marked by rising social conflicts as local residents demand more benefits.
On Tuesday, Gold Fields La Cima S.A., the local subsidiary of South Africa's Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), said it had temporarily shut down work on its Cerro Corona gold-copper project in northern Peru because of protests.
According to the company, a group of people demanding more jobs has blocked access to the site.
In August, protests forced Minera Yanacocha SRL, which runs Latin America's largest gold mine, to temporarily shut down its operations. The Yanacocha mine is operated by Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM).
In September residents in the southern province of Ilo blocked the railway line that Southern Copper Corp. (PCU) uses to send its concentrates to its smelter, demanding $400 million in environmental compensation. The protest escalated to a province-wide strike.
In recent days, the oil industry has also come under fire.
On Monday, indigenous groups lifted a protest against Pluspetrol Norte SA in northern Peru after shutting down its operations for nearly two weeks.
The indigenous groups were protesting decades of environment contamination.
The government's aim, said del Castillo, is to try to gather the necessary information to ensure that social complaints do not escalate into protests.
Among other things, it will monitor fulfillment of contracts, in particular in terms of social obligations.
According to the government resolution, the commission will be presided over by representatives from the prime minister's office.
It will include a representative from the ministry of energy and mines, interior, agriculture and labor.
It will also include a representative from the government office that oversees natural resources, the health ministry, the environmental health board and the national environmental council.
Its mandate is to "coordinate the necessary actions to prevent and address conflicts," the resolution said.
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MarketWatch 25 10 06
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