By Lester Haines for The
Register
This article has been reproduced from The Register, with
permission.
Swiss-based Xstrata has stumped up £26m to a poverty-busting
fund as part of its concession deal to exploit the copper reserves,
Reuters reports. The authorities say they will spend the cash on
soccer pitches, rehabilitating city squares and installing
net-connected computers.
All well and good, say local farmers, but as representative
Cristian Huilca put it: "We're peasants, many of us cannot read or
write ... But we don't believe the internet will help us as much as
an irrigation channel will."
The protestors, and some local officials, not unreasonably
reckon the money would be better spent on schools, hospitals, water
and electricity. Hence the planned blockade of the Las Bambas
mining site, due to commence production in 2011.
© The Register
2005
