CoAL suspends some activities at Vele after water licence appeal
Emerging miner Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) has stopped all activities requiring the use of water at its troubled Vele project in Limpopo, after a coalition of nonprofit organisations (NGOs) appealed the integrated water use licence.
The appeal automatically suspends the water use licence, but the company said on Friday that it would approach the Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa to lift the suspension.
“The company is actively engaging with the Minister to resolve this appeal process as soon as possible. Although the appeal limits our use of water at Vele, mobilisation continues towards bringing the mine into production,” said CEO John Wallington.
Earlier this month, CoAL was granted environmental approval for the Vele mine, which it is building near the Mapungubwe. Due to its close proximity to the United Nations World Heritage site, the Department of Environmental Affairs imposed a number of conditions on the mine.
The coalition appealing the integrated water use licence consists of the Mapungubwe Action Group, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Wilderness Foundation, BirdLife South Africa, the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists and the Peace Parks Foundation.
The NGO coalition claimed on Thursday that the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) had based its decision to grant the water licence on “inaccurate, apartheid-era population data”, which assumed that 495 people required water from the subcatchment area, when, in fact, thousands of people lived in the area. The group also said that the DWA did not take into account warnings that the catchment area was water stressed.
The group of NGOs also stated that the use of water at the Vele colliery could pose a risk of contamination.
Wallington said that CoAL acknowledged the coalition’s right to appeal against the granting of the integrated water use licence, but that the company would pursue its right to develop the Vele colliery.
Vele would produce some five-million tons a year of soft coking coal, over a 25-year life-of-mine.
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Special concerns: Government needs to enable the disabled
A large number of disabled people organised a rally in the city on Saturday to highlight their problems. A walk was convened by the Leo Foundation in Multan at Nawan Shehr Chowk and over 270 people suffering from various disabilities participated in the event.
Dozens of NGO activists also accompanied the procession. “This is a peace walk and we want to spread a message of peace for Pakistan as well as highlight the concerns of the disabled community,” said NGO worker Shammon Ahmad. “We hope the city government will take note of our concerns and address some of these problems as soon as possible,” he added.
“I cannot walk and there are no ramps or places in the bus for me to sit,” said paraplegic Talha Samad. “I usually need to ask someone at the bus stand to help me up fold my wheelchair and carry me to the seat. Sometimes people even refuse to give me a seat,” he added.
“The tehsil and district administrations need to ensure wheelchair access on public transport. We don’t even have these facilities in railway stations,” he added.
A blind woman Asma Bibi, 19, said that she had only managed to study in public school because her sister sat with her in class and copied her notes.
“I couldn’t even afford to learn or buy a brail set and there are no provisions made for blind or deaf students to sit exams separately,” she said. ‘People like us have something to offer and we are determined but the government needs to support us,” she added.
“These people are an integral part of our community and it is the government’s duty to ensure that there lives are made easier rather than harder. Yet, there are very little provisions made for disabled people with regards to transport, health or education,” said NGO worker Naeem Zahid.
“There are several philanthropists working with such people to help rehabilitate them but it will be impossible to do so effectively without the government’s help. The authorities need to make it possible for a disabled person to commute and function independently,” he added.
The protesters said that the problems of the country affected every community and that members of the disabled community were not exempt from these concerns. “We want peace and progress as much as any other Pakistani and we need the government to ensure our rights,” said deaf man Raza Hammad.
“There need to be proper facilities for people like us to help us communicate better and the government needs to provide more jobs for the disabled community,” he said. President Leo Foundation Sajid Jameel said that he hoped the government would begin to fulfill its duties towards members of the disabled community. “We can no longer turn a blind eye and let them fade away into the background. The government needs to ensure that their talent is put to use,” he said.
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SC notice to NTCA on banning tourism in core area
Enlivening hopes to ban tourism in core zones and critical tiger habitats (CTHs) of reserves, the Supreme Court (SC) issued notice to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Madhya Pradesh government. The notices were waived on a special leave petition (SLP) filed by Advocate Gaurav Agrawal on Friday on behalf of Ajay Dubey of Prayatna, a Bhopal-based NGO working for environment protection for a decade.
"The SC has granted three weeks' time to respondents NTCA and the MP government to file their replies," Dubey told TOI.
The SLP was filed against the interim order of January 19, 2011 passed by the Jabalpur high court rejecting Dubey's prayer for barring all kinds of commercial tourism, hotelling and other human activities in the core and critical areas as notified in the tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh.
The Jabalpur high court had ruled that tourism is not prohibited in the tiger reserves but is permitted subject to normative standards laid down by the NTCA. Keeping parks inviolate for the purposes of tiger conservation does not indicate banning of tourism.
The court had ruled that the word 'inviolate' used also does not imply complete prohibition or banning of tourism.
Inviolate is defined by approved lexicographers to mean 'unhurt', unpolluted and unbroken.
However, Dubey says the word 'inviolate' has to be read in toto i.e. after notification of the core or CTH by the government, the areas should kept as inviolate for tiger conservation. 'Inviolate' means without any disturbance by human beings. Tourism activity in such areas would mean violation of the NTCA guidelines.
The necessity for filing the writ petition had arisen because Madhya Pradesh, which is home to two-third of tiger population of the country, has in recent years, witnessed an unfortunate and sudden decline of tigers with the government succumbing to private and commercial interests.
Dubey had filed a PIL on banning tourism in core areas on September 8, 2010. Supreme Court has now brightened hope.
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Learning through Art
Alwan wa Awtar (Colours and Strings), an NGO promoting the arts in an underprivileged area in Muqattam, believes in the importance of art and its function in building social, critical and communication skills. The NGO makes it clear that art is not a luxury and should not be limited to the privileged few. Instead art is a necessary part of education that helps shape communities.
The NGO offers several music classes in guitar, drums and keyboard, as well as classes in photography. Other activities include painting, arts and crafts, crochet and pottery. Children can visit the library after school, play with puzzles or other games provided.
Among activities held at the centre are the Ana El-Hekaya writing workshop, theatre workshops and participation in the Model Arab League at the American University in Cairo (AUC).
The project was launched in 2005. Founder Azza Kamel was a volunteer in an NGO called Fathet Kheir, which helped women start their own projects to produce and sell handicrafts. The NGO hosted French volunteers for a ten-day workshop to teach the children of those women arts and crafts. When the workshop proved a success, Kamel talked to the children and discussed with them what they liked about it. She realized that these children had no access to visual and performing arts. After some research on how art can be used as a tool for development, Kamel says she “realized that this was a good way for them to break their cycle of poverty when they come out of age.”
Values of the NGO
The volunteers at Alwan wa Awtar, or animators, as they’re called, take several workshops to learn how to teach art in the context of development. The key to their approach is building the children’s characters. One of the organization’s core values is respecting differences in others.
After the 1992 earthquake, citizens from several different governorates were housed in the Hadaba al Wosta in Muquttam. The various populations living there make for a vast amount of diversity in the community.
Another value the group stresses is giving children confidence by allowing them to voice their opinions. Change in the attitudes of the children there have become apparent, says program manager Nermine Mounir. “Their dreams are different now,” says Mounir, “they have more aspirations towards the future.”
The centre has become a place for the children’s activities and conversation.
“The centre provides a safe space for the children to keep them off the streets,” says Mounir, adding that the centre also helps children who suffer from domestic abuse.
Alwan wa Awtar also promotes non-formal education. “Here we believe in the function of learning through doing,” says Mounir. “We take them on trips and provide interactive activities that enhance their thought.”
Writing workshops
One exercise of the Ana el Hekaya (I am the Story) workshop, led by novelist Sahar el Mougy, was adapting the fairytales of Cinderella and Aladdin by putting them in a different contexts or changing their endings. One of the girls wrote a story about Cinderella, who after getting to know the prince, left him due to his superficiality and selfishness. To Cindarella, he was a man seeking only pleasure who was unaware of the poorest people in his community. The children told this story and others in a storytelling night last Ramadan at Makan, a musical venue. “I believe that this workshop was a success,” said Mougy, “it made the children start questioning gender stereotypes.”
Theatre
The “Theatre of the Oppressed” is a form of theatre born in Brazil in 1971. Its main aim is to promote self-expression and analyze the past in context of the present. Alwan wa Awtar adopted this form and has held several performances, each consisting of several sketches relating to problems affecting the children’s including the high cost of private lessons, garbage thrown from windows and the sale of apartments are already owned by others. “The children discuss these problems through comedic, exaggerated sketches,” says Kamel.
The children have performed in several venues like Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Genaina Theater, Darb 1718 and AUC.
The theatre project is in collaboration with Nahdet el Mahrousa, a group that offers acting coaches for the children. Among the participants of Alwan wa Awtar, Ahmed Ali, showed a great passion for acting and joined the theatre troupe ‘Hala’ (condition).
Future projects
At first, many parents of the children approached the project with scepticism, perceiving it as a waste of time, but after seeing the change in their children, they have come to welcome the NGO.
Alwan wa Awtar is aiming to expand. They have sent volunteers to Stabl Antar Dream, a development project in the poverty stricken areas of Stabl Antar and Ezbet Kheirallah, as well as to a governmental school in the area of Sabteya. Their next step is to transfer their methodology to new places and continue teaching people to use art in social development. The goal is to have communities implement these programs on their own. “We are hoping to make it a franchise,” says Kamel.
The NGO’s latest project is focused on recycling. “We are trying to connect the community to the environment through different workshops,” Mounir explains. “We are also forming a team of volunteers, who are willing to work on projects to promote recycling.”
The centre is open to anyone every day except on Fridays from 12pm till 8
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Violence in Aceh is getting political: NGO
Violence in Aceh is becoming political, according to a human rights NGO.
“We are facing violence in relation to local political issues such as the regional elections and harsh competition between political parties,” Harris Azhar, coordinator of the Missing Persons and Violence Victims Commission (Kontras), told a press conference on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com.
The latest incident of politically related violence was the murder of Saiful Cage, a former Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM) combatant, who was shot dead in a drive-by shooting on July 22. Saiful was working for Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf’s controversial re-election campaign when he was killed.
Kontras recorded 16 cases of violence Aceh in 2010, down from 26 cases in 2009, he said.
Aceh was classified as a military operations area for years due to the violent, decades-long insurgency led the GAM.
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NGO appeal Mapungubwe mine licence
A coalition of civil society organizations will lodge an appeal against the granting of a water use license to a company aiming to establish a colliery near the Mapungubwe National Park in northern Limpopo.
The coalition comprising the Mapungubwe Action Group, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Wilderness Foundation, BirdLife SA, the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists and the Peace Parks Foundation in a statement said it would lodge the appeal on Thursday.
This followed the granting of a water use license by the department of water affairs to Coal of Africa on March 29 this year.
The license is for the company's proposed Vele colliery.
The national park, a proclaimed World Heritage Site, forms part of a proposed transfrontier conservation park between South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
It is also an area of significant cultural importance, incorporating the lost city of Mapungubwe Hill, an ancient 13th century African civilisation.
The coalition said the water use licence granted to Limpopo Coal gave it the right, among other things, to abstract more than 2.4 billion litres of water a year from the Limpopo river, based on an average of more than 6.7 million litres a day.
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NGO to organize free medical screening in Hohoe Municipality
Freedom Aid Ghana (FAG), an Accra-based health and education oriented non-governmental organization, is to organize free medical screening for residents of the Ve areas in the Hohoe Municipal Area.
The team, which includes medical doctors, pharmacists, dieticians, nutritionists and nurses, would pitch camp at Ve-Dafor Zion School Park from August 26 to 28 for the exercise.
Mr Bright Adobor, FAG Chief Executive Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that the three-tier programme involved interactions with the people in their homes and other meeting places for an inkling into their health needs.
The middle tier is the medical screening after which a report will be submitted to the health authorities to input into the curative and preventive health programmes of the area.
Buses would be provided to convey people in nearby communities to the screening ground.
He said blood pressures would be taken, tests for diabetes and malaria conducted, Body-Mass-Indices calculated, drugs dispensed.
The screening would be the second in the area conducted by FAG which is also designing support programmes for needy in schools.
He said important aspects of the screening programme would be talks on nutrition, dieting and disease prevention.
Mr Adoboe said indications were that there were a lot of malaria cases in the area, a few cases of suspected and confirmed HIV and AIDS and cardiovascular diseases.
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