"Mining is what created Rosia Montana, but that doesn't mean mining
should also destroy it," Gruber told Al Jazeera. "They cannot start the
project while I'm still here. They can't build a pit over my head. I'd
rather be killed at my doorstep."
The plan has raised tensions in
Rosia Montana, pitting neighbour against neighbour, as some residents
take mining jobs while others oppose the multi-billion-dollar scheme
that could boost the size of Romania's economy by one percent.
What
began as a local row has snowballed into nation-wide protests, with
anti-mine rallies that attract 15,000 people in the capital, Bucharest -
giving a Romanian flavour to street action that has rocked Egypt,
Turkey, Brazil and other countries this year.
A fractious debate
has seen environmentalists, archaeologists and constitutionalists united
against a foreign mining consortium, which they say will plunder
Romania and pollute the Transylvanian countryside with cyanide.
http://m.aljazeera.com/story/2013102781948993663
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