Local residents near the Cobre Panamá copper mine in Panama are facing severe movement restrictions and expressing growing anxieties about the mine's impact on their health and environment.
Residents living near the expansive Cobre Panamá copper mine in Panama assert they are subjected to stringent movement restrictions imposed by the company's private security guards. Despite the mine being shut down over a year ago following a supreme court ruling deeming the company's contract with the Panama nian government unconstitutional, access to and from the mine concession remains heavily controlled.
A formidable metal gateway manned by security personnel acts as a barrier, allowing passage only on designated days. Local inhabitants, primarily subsistence farmers, lament the situation, describing it as a 'state within a state' and expressing frustration at the continued influence of the company despite its closure.First Quantum Minerals, the Canadian-based corporation operating through its subsidiary Minera Panamá, maintains a private security force that patrols the concession instead of the national police. While the company claims to provide a daily free bus service for those residing within the concession, this service operates on a rotating basis, granting access only twice a week to each individual community. This limited access poses significant challenges for residents requiring urgent assistance, such as medical emergencies.Beyond movement restrictions, residents express concerns about the environmental and health impacts of the mine. They report unexplained deaths of fish and prawns, an increase in illnesses and deaths among the local population since the mine's commencement in 2014, and various symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, stomach and kidney ailments, fever, and skin lesions. The Pifa River, flowing through the Ngäbe Indigenous community of Sinaí, falls within the mine's perimeter. While First Quantum asserts the water's purity, some residents claim to experience rashes and hives after bathing in it. While researchers from the University of Panama conducted water and soil sampling and examined local children in 2024, the results are yet to be published, leaving the extent of the mine's impact on human health and the environment unclear. The company's continued presence in the area, despite its closure and pending legal challenges, fuels tension and resentment among local communities who feel their voices are not adequately heard in the decision-making process regarding their future
Cobre Panamá Mine Panama First Quantum Minerals Indigenous Communities Environmental Concerns Health Issues Movement Restrictions Mining Operations Legal Disputes
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