John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, Suite 15, 1st Floor, 104 Bathurst Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. Fax(61)(2)9283-2005 ph(61)(2)9283-2006. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd Dear people, The Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Jabiluka land, the Mirrar People, have reluctantly been forced to call on the wider public worldwide to assist in their long- running fight to protect the sacred sites near the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine. You can help by faxing the following numbers of Australian authorities, and asking That all construction operations at the Jabiluka site be immediately stopped. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee last year asked that construction be stopped. The Australian government has chosen to ignore this. You should ask the Australian government to immediately implement the UNESCO WHC recommendation that construction cease. Senator Robert Hill, Minister for the Environment 61-2-6273-6101. John Howard, Prime Minister:61-2-6273-4100 Chief Minister, Northern Territory 61-8-8999-6670, 61-8-8981-1621. Then write to the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO in Paris, noting that the Boyweg/Almudj sacred site complex is in immediate danger, and asking that representations be made immediately to the Australian government, and that Kakadu be listed as 'in Danger'. The fax number of the World Heritage centre in Paris is:+33-1-456-85570. The chairperson of the World heritage Committee is His Excellency, Ambassador Koichiro Matsuura, the Japanese ambassador to Paris. His number is: 33-1-42-27-50-81. Correspondence to Matsuura should be respectful and to the point. US groups may also wish to fax the US Secretary of the interior, Bruce Babbitt, whose number is: 202-208-5048. You should note that the executive director of the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation, Jacqui Katona will be seeing him on April 20th, and should ask him to treat what she says with the utmost seriousness, and to instruct the US representative on the WHC both to vote for Kakadu to be placed on the 'in Danger list, and to actively lobby for the same. STATEMENT BY SENIOR TRADITIONAL OWNERS AND CUSTODIANS RE THE BOYWEG-ALMUDJ SACRED SITE COMPLEX At meetings held on April 7, 12, and 13, all the traditional Owners and Custodians of the jabiluka area agreed to the following statements with regard to the Boyweg-Almudj Sacred Site Complex: 1)The Boyweg-Almudj Sacred Site Complex (which includes the Boyweg- Almudj site, the Boyweg- Bagaloi site, the dreaming track between these two sites, and other sites of significance) is a sacred and dangerous area which should not be disturbed on the surface or underground. 2)The sacred sites within and associated with the Boyweg-Almudj sacred site complex have existed for untold generations and their integrity is essential to the survival of Aboriginal culture in present and future generations. 3)The access tunnel being constructed for the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine is now in the immediate vicinity of the Boyweg-Almudj Sacred Site Complex, and must stop immediately in order to avoid desecration of sacred sites, with catastrophic consequences for local Aboriginal people. 4)Assertions made by the Northern Land Council in the 1982 mining agreement that there are no sacred sites in the area of the Jabiluka mine site are not correct. 5)Such assertions were made by the Northern Land Council without consulting with senior key custodians for the Jabiluka area. 6)In particular, the JUNGAI, or Primary Custodian, for the Jabiluka area has informed the Northern Land Council mining companies, and other officials on many occasions that the sacred sites within the Boyweg-Almudj sacred site complex should not be disturbed. 7)That the Senior Traditional Owner, who 'consented' to the 1982 agreement did so under duress and later informed senior custodians that the area should not be disturbed because of dangers associated with sacred sites. 8)There are a number of burial sites in the area of the Jabiluka mine site, which remain unknown to non - aboriginal people. 9)The Senior Custodians and traditional Owners who have attended and/or been identified at the meetings of Apr 7,12, and 13th are the only Aboriginal people who are permitted under Aboriginal law to speak about sacred sites on the Jabiluka land, and have spoken with one voice about the need to protect the Boyweg-Almudj sacred site complex. 10)The senior Traditional owners and custodians for the Jabiluka land call on local Aboriginal organisations, the Northern Land Council, the Australian Government and all other concerned citizens and organisations to support our urgent demand to protect sacred sites within and associated with the Boyweg-Almudj sacred site complex. SOME BACKGROUND 1)The Boyweg- Almudj sacred site complex is on the Mirrar peoples land in the Kakadu region. Aspects of the site complex are in the immediate vicinity of the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine operations. The site exists both on the surface and below ground. 2)The site complex has been recognised by Aboriginal people since time immemorial. it was first identified by non- aboriginals in 1976-78 during nomination for national estate listing. It was identified again during the land claim process of 1979-80. It was identified by UNESCO as integral to the World Heritage values of Kakadu in 1998. 3)The mining company knew of the site complex in 1982, and threatened to scuttle the Traditional Owners land claim if it was recognised. The current company recognised the site in 1998 in a deed poll, but agreed only to minimise surface damage. Jabiluka is an underground mine. 4)The mining company and the government assured the traditional Owners that a sacred site study would be completed before the start of construction. This study has not even started, and construction has been going on for nine months. Numerous pleas by the traditional Owners to the Minister for Environment and Heritage have been ignored. 5)The mine tunnel is due to reach the boundary of the site in early May 1999. If the sacred sites in the complex are desecrated by the tunnel, local Aboriginals believe that catastrophe, illness, and death will result. The UNESCO World heritage Committee last December, voted 20-1 for mining to stop. The government has ignored this. The Mirrar are considering a range of legal and statutory protection mechanisms to prevent the destruction of their sacred sites. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
