Desert Residents Pay High Price for Lucrative Uranium Mining (Africa)

[jpak]

http://www.somalipress.com/news/2009-mar-31/desert-residents-pay-high-price-lucrative-uranium-mining.html

After a visit in late March from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Niger, residents in the uranium-exporting desert country continue questioning whether AREVA, a company primarily owned by the French government, will honour its promise to protect communities from mining hazards.

Studies and residents' testimonies have pointed to health and environmental dangers from mining operations owned and operated by both AREVA's subsidiaries and the Niger government.

Salifou Adifou, 67, worked for 40 years as a driller at Niger's SOMAÃèR (Aïr Mountains Mining Company), a public-private venture with AREVA owning 63 percent.

The retiree told IRIN he has undiagnosed health problems. "I have stomach and chest pains, but since retirement , I cannot afford health care." Adifou said his friend who had worked as a miner is now bedridden.

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