Reuters AlertNet Lite - Guatemala evicts squatters from nickel mine

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Guatemala evicts squatters from nickel mine

12 Jan 2007 03:23:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 11 (Reuters) - More than 500 Guatemalan police and soldiers have evicted Mayan Indian squatters who had been illegally occupying the property of a Canadian nickel miner since last September, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Some 300 Mayans, who want the company to cede land for subsistence farming, left peacefully as police and troops came with an eviction order, said Regina Rivera, miner Skye's <SKR.TO> spokesperson in Guatemala.

Some left over the weekend when they heard news of the planned eviction and 155 others abandoned the area on Monday and Tuesday after the police arrived, said Rivera.

Skye plans to reopen the long-dormant Fenix nickel project near Guatemala's Lake Izabal and begin producing 11,000 tonnes of ferro-nickel in 2009.

But environmental concerns and disputes over land rights prompted hundreds of Mayan families living near the site to occupy five areas within the company's concession in mid-September.

"We're disappointed that the organizers of the land invasions were not able to keep their commitment to have their people leave the land so we could engage in further dialogue," Ian Austin, Skye's president and chief executive, said in a press release.

"However we're also thankful that the Guatemalan government has upheld the company's rights to the land and we remain committed to working with community leaders to find solutions."

The police first tried to evict the invaders in November but protesters clashed with authorities and an angry mobbed burned down Skye's community relations office and a hospital recently renovated by the company.

Romel Reyes, who works with a local Indian rights group, said some squatters had plans to re-occupy the land.

Fenix operated for a short period under a different name in the late 1970s but was mothballed in 1980 when nickel prices collapsed.

In mid-November, Skye's stock fell 29 percent after the company said it would develop the Guatemala project alone, having received no takeover bids from larger miners.

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Last updated:Fri Jan 12 03:24:02 2007