In Niger, the city of Arlit, 250 kilometers from Agadez, in the north of the country, painfully accuses the news of the closure of the Akouta mine, scheduled for March 31. On Wednesday, Moussa Souley, general manager of Cominak, Akouta’s mining company, announced to the press the terms of the closure of this mine site.
With our Special Correspondent in Niamey, Gaelle Laleix
Cominak is a Nigeria subsidiary of the French group Orano, formerly Areva, which has been extracting uranium in the region for more than 40 years. According to the company, the Akouta mine must close because it has exhausted its resources. It leaves 600 employees unemployed and has a significant environmental impact.
While not a surprise, the closure of the mine has a bitter taste for Cominak employees. The company has planned a social plan. Its employees receive between 20 and 60 million CFA francs. For Niou Amadou, Secretary General of the National Mining Union (Synamin) in Cominak, these envelopes will not be enough. We need an economic recovery plan for the region …
“We have many of our workers who are young. As long as there is no economic recovery in the country, it means that many of these young people will find themselves unemployed. I do not think anyone will say they are happy no matter how much money we give them. xxxx »
Environmental damage in perspective?
However, no compensation is planned for the 800 subcontractors dependent on the mine.
Another cause for concern is the dismantling of the mine site.
“There are approximately twenty million tonnes of treatment residues that contain approx. 80% of the radioactivity stored outdoors. They have devised a method to secure them: they say they will build a sarcophagus. First, they lay a layer of clay. Then maybe, but it is not even certain that they lay a layer of cement that can not withstand time and bad weather, ”explains Rahmar Ilatoufegh from the coordination of civil society d ‘Arlit.
In total, Cominak’s redevelopment plan amounts to 95 billion CFAF.
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