To All,
Fenway Resources Ltd FWY
Shares issued 7,735,215 Feb 24 close $8.95
Mon 24 Feb 97 News Release
Mr A. Leonard Taylor reports
The company's president, Mr H. John Wilson, and officers of the company's
joint venture partner Central Palawan Mining and Industrial Corp (CPMIC)
travelled to Punan, Municipality of Sofronia Espanola, Palawan, February 21
1997, for the final public meeting of the Palawan Council for Sustainable
Development regarding the company's Palawan cement project. The purpose of
the meeting was two-fold: first, to determine the level of local opinion
for or against the project; and second, to identify any critical areas for
further consideration in the environmental impact statement.
Project proponents presented measures to the PCSD which would be taken to
mitigate the project's environmental impact, especially for dust emissions
and for programs designed to improve social and economic conditions of the
affected communities. A total of 21 resolutions endorsing the project were
presented to the PCSD by local government units (barangays), the entire
nine local tribal communities, business associations, and non-government
organizations. Only Mr Tito Mata, chairman of the Domadoway Foundation of
Indigenous People, speaking fluently in Tagalog, presented some opposition
to the project based on the foundation's claim to ancestral rights to the
land.
However, Mr Wilson and CPMIC officers had previously visited Attorney Lito
Alisuag, advisor to the Domadoway, to discuss the tribes' concerns. Four
critical areas of concern for the tribes were stated to be: 1)
non-relocation of households 2) protection for local water sources 3)
non-intermingling of mine workers with Domadoway members, and 4) respect
for native burial grounds. Fenway and CPMIC assured Atty Alisuag that the
project proponents would comply with the requests. A draft memorandum of
agreement (MOA) was presented to Atty Alisuag for consideration and
response by the Domadoway. The MOA contained the obligation and commitments
of the project proponents to respect the rights and culture of the
Domadoway people. At the same time, it expressed the obligation of the
Domadoway to respect the project proponents rights to quarry limestone and
shale from the quarry area. Further talks are planned.
During the meeting, support for and acceptance of the project was
overwhelmingly demonstrated by some 2,000 residents of Sofronia Espanola,
led by their Mayor Iber Chou. At the close of the meeting, presiding
officers and members of the PCSD again publicly reiterated their continued
support for the Palawan cement project.
(c) Copyright 1997 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com |
