”Our confidence in Vale after the accident is non-existent,” says John Howchin, Secretary-General for the Council on Ethics of the AP funds.
At an earlier dam accident, in November of 2015, 19 people died in the vicinity of the city of Mariana, in what was then described as Brazil’s worst environmental disaster. The disaster resulted in an extensive amount of fish killed and severe consequences for the environment in the area. 43.7 million cubic metres of muddy water rushed in, covering the area surrounding the city. The country’s biggest mining company Vale was involved in that accident as well.
At that time the AP funds’ Council on Ethics defended the investment of 1.7 billion SEK in the company by saying that Vale had ”taken action by inspecting other mining dams and by helping the inhabitants in the region. As long as nothing else is revealed the Council on Ethics will regard this as an accident and will observe the future development”.
After the new accident the Secretary-General of the Council on Ethics, John Howchin, is very critical of how the company has managed their security.
Many of the people who are feared dead are employees of Vale and large areas have been ruined. What is your view on that?
– I’m so angry I am lost for words. If there was any risk of an accident one has to question the measures taken by the company. The confidence in Vale is non-existent.
What will you do now?
– We will review our recommendations and it is extremely difficult for me to see that we will not recommend the AP funds to exclude this company.
Translation: Evelyn Jones
https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/swedish-ap-funds-no-confidence-in-mining-company-vale/
Submitted January 26, 2019 at 01:52PM by Michael-Wittmann http://bit.ly/2WlL3e7
