N.Korean ship with magnetite in Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya
By atm.admin - Posted on January 7th, 2010
Ship carrying magnetite stokes fears on Cagayan mining BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The North Korean ship loaded with magnetite sand and which listed off the coast of Claveria, Cagayan, on Friday has bolstered suspicion that illegal mining continued in the province’s beaches, a member of a local environment group said. Doctor Lazaro Ramos, former Cagayan board member, said the vessel, MV Nam Yang 8, which was loaded with about 2,800 metric tons of iron sand, or magnetite, bound for China, disproved government officials’ claims that black sand mining operations had stopped. “How do they explain this now? This proves what [environment groups] and residents have been complaining about for the longest time: That illegal mining continues under our officials’ noses,” Ramos said in a telephone interview from Ballesteros town in Cagayan. Ramos is part of a group, led by the Catholic Church, which has been opposing the extraction of magnetite sand from the riverbed of the Cagayan River in Camalaniugan and Lallo towns and the province’s northern coastline. The groups raised fears that communities would be flooded should magnetite mining continue to eat up coastal areas. Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian, Cagayan Valley police director, said MV Nam Yang 8 was abandoned by its crew on Friday after its engine conked out and it began tilting 11 kilometers off Barangay (village) Taggat Norte in Claveria. The ship left the port of Aparri on December 31 carrying magnetite, a mineral used to produce steel, magnets and paints. Ramos quoted several sources as saying the ship was last seen before New Year’s Day docked off the Cagayan River delta and being loaded with black sand. “These reports have been going on but authorities simply dismiss them,” he said. Government officials gave conflicting accounts on the source of the shipment, but insisted no extraction of magnetite was ongoing anywhere in Cagayan. Mario Ancheta, Cagayan Valley director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, said the ship’s magnetite load was part of old stock extracted by Jisan Mining Corp., a Korean firm with a small-scale mining permit from the Cagayan government. Ancheta said Nam Yang 8’s shipment was covered by an export permit issued by Cagayan Governor Alvaro Antonio and affirmed by former environment secretary Lito Atienza. Ancheta led a team that issued a report in October confirming the extraction activities of MV Min Fu Jian Hou off the coast of Barangay Minanga Weste in Buguey town. He said the extraction was for “sampling purposes” only. “They just had to be shipped so they were given a [permit],” he said. Antonio dismissed allegations that Nam Yang 8’s shipment was proof of ongoing mining operations in the province. “There is no mining going on in Cagayan and I am not aware of any shipment of magnetite sand that is coming out of Cagayan,” he said. Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20100102-245172/Ship-carrying-magnetite-stokes-fears-on-Cagayan-mining North Korean crewmen are VIPs in Cagayan, say mining critics BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Church officials and civil society leaders in Cagayan are outraged by what they said was the special treatment that 22 crewmen of a beached North Korean ship were getting from government officials. They questioned the legality of the North Koreans’ entry into the country and of the shipment of magnetite (black sand) that was believed to have been extracted from the province’s rivers and beaches. Crew members of MV Nam Yang 8 abandoned ship after it listed off the shores of Claveria, Cagayan, on Jan. 1. They reached the village of Taggat Norte in Claveria aboard a life boat. “These Koreans are being treated as tourists. Instead of undergoing quarantine procedures, they are roaming in the [village]. Some are swimming in the beach, drinking,” said Lazaro Ramos, a former Cagayan board member and member of a multisectoral group opposed to mining in the province. Infectious disease Ramos, a doctor, asked why the Koreans were not subjected to quarantine procedures, amid the possibility that any one of them could be carrying an infectious disease. “Instead of being subjected to strict government regulations, our authorities are rushing to attend to the needs of these aliens. They’re getting VIP treatment,” he said. Ramos and Catholic priests in the province said a top official from Cagayan, whom they did not name, had been wielding influence on the case to protect mining operations there, which, they said, was exposed by the Nam Yang 8 accident. “We have gotten reports that an immigration official in Ilocos Norte got a call from this politician to transfer custody of the Koreans to immigration officers in Cagayan, apparently because they have better control of things if they are in Cagayan,” said Fr. Edgar Agcaoili, parish priest of Baggao town. Custody battle A report sent by Claveria police officials to Chief Supt. Roberto Damian, Cagayan Valley police director, showed that Paulino Verzosa, acting alien control officer of the Bureau of Immigration in Laoag City, gave up custody of 10 of the 22 North Koreans on the intercession of Eva Antiporda, alien control officer of Aparri in Cagayan. The report said after the North Koreans were taken to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, they were brought back to Claveria on Monday after negotiations. But in a statement, Victor Malenab, alien control officer in Tuguegarao City, said the Koreans were taken to Laoag City on Sunday. There was an earlier custody battle between immigration officials from Ilocos Norte and Cagayan because, while the North Koreans made it to shore in Claveria, their 3,461-ton cargo ship drifted westward and ran aground near the coastline of Barangay Balaoi in Pagudpud. Reimbursement Arsenio de la Peña, Taggat Norte village chief, said the barangay government was giving temporary refuge to the North Korean crewmen, even giving them food and other needs. “The company has promised that they will pay us back for all expenses that we will incur. Anyway, everything is okay here because all concerned agencies of government are here to look after their welfare,” he said, referring to the BI, Bureau of Customs, Coast Guard and police. De la Peña declined to comment, however, when asked about the supposed special treatment. Damian said the police have been providing security to the North Koreans, not as a special case, but merely as a routine procedure. “That is routine. We provide security whoever may need it and we will continue to secure these Koreans until they are able to go back home safe,” he said. Damian declined to answer questions on the North Koreans’ status or if the shipment of about 2,800 metric tons of magnetite was covered by documents. “Those are matters that are the concern of other government agencies. Our concern is mainly security,” he said. Mario Ancheta, Cagayan Valley director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, stood by his earlier statement that the Nam Yang 8 shipment was covered by a valid export permit issued by the provincial government, a claim that was denied by Gov. Alvaro Antonio. Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20100105-245698/North_Korean_crewmen_are_VIPs_in_Cagayan,_say_mining_critics
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