From the Editor
Dear Friends,
In this issue of Yemaya, we carry articles and news from various parts of the world. From near Valencia, Spain, we hear of the struggles of a women’s association as it challenges the age-old patrilineal system, in which only the male offspring of fishermen can inherit rights to fish. Though the courts have ruled in favour of the women, the real challenge remains, which is to change local social norms and customs. In the meantime, the association continues to face social ostracism.
From Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, come disturbing stories of the negative health and environmental impact of tailings from gold mining operations by a multinational company, PT. Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR), a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, based in Denver, Colorado, USA, the fifth largest mining company in the world. Women, it is reported, have been specially affected by the pollution of the bay with arsenic, mercury and cyanide. They have been reporting constant headaches, pain in the joints, tremors, brain damage, lumps spread on the body and itchiness. The company is said to have done little besides denying the reports. A study released in June 2003 by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) contends that tailings from the gold mining firm NMR contain four times the government-allowed level of cyanide, endangering the health of residents and the environment. The company is due to close operation in 2004, but is required to monitor the site for the next three years. As the company exits, questions will remain about the long-term environmental, health and economic impacts on local communities.
From Sri Lanka, we hear of the increasing work burden on the women of fishing communities. At a recent training programme organized by ICSF, Empowerment through Information: ICSF’s Training Programme for Fishworker Organizations and NGOs, there were discussions on precisely this issue. A heated discussion had followed the submission of one of the participants, who maintained that women have a very important and respected place in their communities, as is clear from the number of responsibilities they take on, being virtually the heads of the family in the absence of the men. Another participant pointed out that rights are not the same as responsibilities. While women take on more and more of the responsibility of keeping the family going, there has not been a parallel increase in the rights they enjoy to, for example, land, income and decision-making processes.
There is positive news from Fiji, where fish processors at the State-owned Pacific Fishing Company (PAFCO) won a significant victory, after they struck work for improved wages and working conditions.
We would like to end by wishing you the very best for a peaceful and war-free 2004. We would also like to remind you to send in your write-ups for Yemaya by the end of February 2004.
