Özer Akdemir

“We have to take action. We are constantly in the dust, surrounded by chemicals. We breathe in chemicals, its dust, its smoke."

These words are from Mehmet Ali Uysal, one of the 600 miners who worked in Çiftay firm, subcontractor of the Canadian Anagold gold company operating in Erzincan Ýlic, and recently quit work due to unpaid wages and poor working conditions.

The same Çiftay company also is a subcontractor for another Canadian gold miner Centerra / Oksut's mine in Develi.  The workers there have been trying to make their voices heard for a few months because of the poor working conditions and their inability to receive their labour's worth.

We brought up allegations brought forward by Oksut Madencilik's Develi gold mine workers about high levels of lead in their blood alongside other allegations in our article titled "What is happening in the gold mine in Develi?"

We are now publishing some documents on the allegations of lead in the blood.

Let us briefly touch upon the repercussions created by our article titled "What is happening in the gold mine in Develi?" before moving on to our interview with a public health professor mentioned in these documents.

WITCH HUNT IN CENTERRA!

According to the information we have obtained, Canadian company officials are among the strict followers of our newspaper these days!  Both our news about the Ozkonak gold mine, as well as our articles about the worker' actions in Develi and the allegations about what is happening there are regularly passed on to the company's partners outside of Turkey.

Especially our article titled "What is happening in the gold mine in Develi?" is reported to have caused serious mayhem within the company. While an investigation was initiated within the company to determine where this information was leaked from, IT experts from Centerra's central units in Kyrgyzstan and Canada were brought in to initiate a complete witch hunt.

ALAMOS GOLD'S CONSULTANT IS IN ÖKSÜT

Metin Demir, who was blamed for the chopping of hundreds of thousands of trees in the Kazdagý Kirazlý region, and whose alleged transfer from Alamos Gold to Centerra as a consultant we have mentioned in a previous article, has sent a letter of denial to our newspaper.  Yet, the letter he sent to our newspaper headquarters via the notary of Kayseri Develi  turns the allegations about the transfer from Alamos Gold / Dogu Biga to Centerra / Oksut into truth. Mr. Metin has already started his consultancy business in Develi!

In a nutshell, he writes in his statement: "We mentioned the trees cut down on Kazdaðý in the ÇÝD report. Not us, but the General Directorate of Forestry officials cut them on our behalf.” No matter who cut them, 350-400 thousand trees have been cut down on Kazdagý and an entire ecosystem has been destroyed!  Whoever is responsible for this eco-crime will eventually face justice.

BLOOD LEAD RATES INCREASED REGULARLY 

As for the issue of the high rate of lead in the blood of the workers working in Oksut's Develi gold mine, documents published by us under protection of the worker's anonymity state there is a steady increase in lead values ​​in the blood between August 2019, March 2020, November 2020 and December 2020.

According to company officials, the available data is not sufficient to make a sound assessment about the source of the increase in the lead rate in the blood.  The problem may have been caused by the ventilation in the workers' working environment, welding work or personal negligence. In the informational note regarding this increase in blood lead values, it is stated that it is not possible to determine which of these options is the cause, therefore all of them should be emphasized and necessary precautions should be taken.

MEASURES TAKEN AGAINST LEAD

On 30.12.2020 company officials are reported to have evaluated the source of this problem and the measures to be taken with Radiology Specialist Prof. Dr. Suat Kemal Aytac and Public Health and Occupational Diseases Specialist Prof. Dr. Ahmet Saltik. After these evaluations, it was decided that an internal medicine specialist from Kayseri Occupational Diseases Hospital would screen and analyse workers, as well that lead blood tests performed every 6 months as per the standard pattern, and the lead tests in the annual environment are to be reduced to once a month. A number of new decisions have also been made regarding workplace architecture and personal precautions.

PROF. DR. AHMET SALTIK: THEY CALLED ME FOR CONSULTANCY

While confirming the meeting, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Saltik said that he could not comment on the increase in the lead rate in the blood of workers in this gold mine, on the grounds that he did not visit the company to conduct an on-site inspection.  In his comment made "within the framework of general knowledge in medical science", Saltik stated that the increase of lead in the blood generally occurs due to the inhalation of lead vapor in enterprises operating in this sector. According to Saltik, who said that there are nearly 150 industrial branches related to lead, measures such as the use of lead-free technologies in these enterprises, the removal of lead vapor from the environment, and lastly, the continuous monitoring of lead levels in workers should be taken. According to the information given by Saltik, lead poisoning begins when the lead rate in the blood exceeds the upper limit of 40 mg / l (40 mg in 100 ml). Lead poisoning causes health problems such as affecting the bone marrow, anemia, kidney failure and paralysis of hand nerves. Just the usual life gamble of the workers!

The importance Mine Worker Mehmet Ali Uysal's words at the very beginning of this article "We have to take action. We are constantly in dust, in chemicals" is once again highlighted after revealing the high amount of lead in the blood of the workers working in the mine in Develi. In both Ýlic and Develi, as well as in gold mines in other parts of the country (especially in enterprises where cyanide separation or other chemicals are used), workers are struggling to be able to work in healthy conditions and even to protect their rights to live.