One Small Town’s Referendum on Gold Mining Is a Big Victory for Citizen Participation in Macedonia · Global Voices
A citizen voting at Gevgelija referendum, April 23, 2017. Photo by <PERSON>, CIVIL, published with permission.
Gevgelija, a small town in the south of Macedonia, made history on April 23 when residents overwhelmingly approved a referendum to block the opening of gold mines in the area that they fear will damage the environment.
Local news portal Gevgelija.net quoted the initial results issued by the municipal election committee, which showed that 98% of the referendum participants cast their ballot in favor of stopping the mines. Out of total of 19,458 Gevgelija citizens in the Voting Registry, 13,097 voted against the mines and 154 voted for them. A total of 68% of eligible voters participated, surpassing the required 50% to validate the result.
The referendum was significant for several reasons. In the 26 years since Macedonia became independent, this was the first successful one, both in the sense of meeting the 50% turnout minimum and in the sense that the majority of voters being cast in support of the demand.
It also represented an important assertion of the will of the people, especially at a time when the outgoing ruling party has been implicated in election fraud.
Election monitoring NGO Civil, declared that the referendum was conducted successfully in a peaceful atmosphere without significant problems, and with only minor irregularities. These included lack of information from the authorities made available to the citizens, as well as cases of group voting and absence of existing voters from the Voting Registry, but they didn't affect the overall outcome.
‘The only gold we need is our children’
Construction has yet to start on the gold mines on nearby Kožuf Mountain, but the companies involved have received the necessary license from authorities allowing them to mine. 363
The prospect of mining in the area stirred this seemingly sleepy border town, which gets most of its income through trade and other services catering to tourists from neighboring Greece. Residents were alarmed that the mines could possibly do irreparable damage to the environment, including poisoning the water table with cyanide, which would be used to treat the gold ore.
An initiative called “Salvation for Gevgelija” used social media to mobilize citizens to vote against the “gold mines of death.” Another of their slogans was, “The only gold we need is our children.”
#СпасЗаГевгелија #РеферендумЗаСпас #ПротивРуднициНаСмртта pic.twitter.com/ChkOOzyvKT
— Red Cloud (@GoranVitez) April 19, 2017
Tweet: #SalvationForGevgelija #ReferendumForSalvation #AgainstMinesOfDeath
Images: “Referendum for Salvation of Gevgelija: Vote Against! 23.04.2017″; “Stop the Mines of Death!”; “The Only Gold We Need Is Our Children”; “Stop Dirty Gold, Stop the Gold of Death, Gold Mine Konjsko, Salvation for Gevgelija [from] Cyanide.”
Responding to the concerns of environmental activists from Gevgelija, a leading independent TV show called 360 Degrees investigated the Canadian and US companies that received the licenses to mine on Kožuf Mountain. They found out that one of them, Reservoir Minerals, is actually an off-shore company from the Virgin Islands, and quoted the company manager saying it is a subsidiary of a Canadian firm. The journalists could not determine the actual owner of this company, which also has permit to survey about 20% of Macedonian territory for mineral deposits.
Allegedly, it is quite easy to “upgrade” such permits issued for geological surveys to mining licenses, requiring a simple approval from an official at the Ministry of Transport and Communications. 360 Degrees discovered that another, seemingly unconnected, company that received similar licenses in other parts of Macedonia has addresses in the same Vancouver building.
All this raised further concerns for the opponents of the mines on Kožuf Mountain, considering that in the past, foreign direct investments in Macedonia have come from off-shore companies allegedly connected with ruling party officials and their supporters.
Lawyer <PERSON> provided additional information via Twitter. He noted that the gold vein runs through the Greek region of Halkidiki, but due to resistance by the local population, the Greek government withdrew the exploitation concessions given to a different Canadian company. 363