Lafarge workers respond to environmental protesters, Slovenia
Employees at LafargeCement, the Trbovlje-based subsidiary of the French cement maker, fear that they might lose their jobs over claims by environmentalists and locals that the company is making money through burning dangerous waste while covering up the real impact on the environment.
The employees said in an open letter to prime Minister Borut Pahor on Thursday that the company’s business was legit and in line with environmental legislation. They called on the prime minister to visit the plant and see for himself.
Zagorje Mayor Matjaz Svagan and a few other individuals have apparently decided they will close down the plant after 134 years of operation. They obviously do not care that Lafarge has met all the necessary environmental requirements, that all the measurements are within the limits and that
several hundred people in the region live off the plant, they argued.
"What could be easier than to spread fear among our locals that we are poisoning them and their children. Making such false claims without any grounds used to be punishable, but today anyone can apparently do it."
Nobody seems to care that Lafarge has arguments to reject every one of these claims, the workers said.
They are also bothered by the demands that the company should stop using alternative fuels, because this would increase its emissions. There are eight other companies classified as major polluters in the region, but nobody seems to mind them, the letter reads.
Published under Cement News
