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Information Release - Rosia Montana Project Marks Last Session in Public Meeting Process
Information Release - Rosia Montana Project Marks Last Session in Public Meeting Process.
About this update from Gabriel Resources Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nProcess Spans 6 Weeks, 16 Meetings, and 2 Countries\n\nCEO Hails \"Unprecedented\" Degree of Disclosure and Consultation\n\nTSX Trading Symbol: GBU\n\nBUCHAREST, Romania, Aug. 30 /CNW/ - With yesterday's meeting in Budapest,\nHungary, the series of 16 public meetings under the Public Disclosure and\nConsultation Process (PDCP) as set forth by the Romanian Government - has now\ncome to a close. In all, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Rosia\nMontana Project was presented for public discussion at 14 meetings across\nRomania and two sessions in Hungary. Under the Espoo Convention, large-scale\nprojects with potential trans-boundary impact must allow for neighboring\nnations to put comments and questions forward during the permitting process.\nIn the case of the Rosia Montana Project, Hungary was the only neighboring\nnation to take part in the process.\n\"Everyone on our team is proud to have participated in what is truly\nunprecedented for Romania,\" noted Alan R. Hill, President and CEO of Gabriel\nResources. \"As the country prepares to accede to the European Union, this was\nthe first time for a project to be held up to such intense public scrutiny,\nfrom the expert and the average person alike.\"\nThe 16 public meetings averaged 4 to 5 hours each, with the sessions in\nBucharest and Cluj running 11 and 12 hours, respectively. Attendance averaged\n500 people per meeting, with a single-meeting peak of 1,000.\nCommenting on the consistent showing of strong community support, Hill\ntermed the PDCP participation of village residents from Rosia Montana as\ncritical. \"Rosia Montana has been a mining community for over 2000 years -\nuntil 2006. This year, the state-run mine in Rosia closed down, under\npreparations for EU membership. Unemployment has gone past 70%. There is no\nalternative to save the village except to build our new mine. For people from\nthe village to have a chance to attend the public meetings in which their fate\nand their future is at stake is absolutely critical.\"\n\"From time to time at various meetings, we saw a small group of die-hard\nopposers try to disrupt the PDCP, derail debate and shut down the process,\"\ncommented Hill. \"But it didn't work. And that's a tribute to every individual\nand organization involved, who understands that public disclosure and dialogue\nis the way we progr...