Majdanpek Administration to Deliberate on Mining of Mt. Starica

Novo Cerovo(BETAPHOTO/Serbia Zijin Copper/MO)

At the initiative of the Ne Dam (I Won’t Let) citizens’ movement, the agenda for the June 29 session of the Majdanpek Municipal Assembly includes a request for halting activities on Starica mountain due to security and environmental concerns, the Ecological Uprising movement has announced.

Invited by Majdanpek locals and opposition assembly representatives, Ecological Uprising co-founder Aleksandar Cuta Jovanovic will be attending the meeting “to pressure the local authorities in Majdanpek to urgently halt the mining of Mt. Starica, [which rises] above the town [and represents] a landmark of the township of Majdanpek.”

“To whom does the Starica belong? To the Chinese? This crime has to stop. The people should decide what happens [to the mountain] next, not some Chinese company. We believe that some laws are still upheld in this country – if not, we’ve become a voiceless colony,” Jovanovic said.

Last week a protest was held in Majdanpek over the mining of the mountain. Also set up was an activist camp blocking the Chinese company ZiJin from further “destroying the mountain and [causing] a rockslide into the town.”