UNDP won’t bow to pressure from protests against Xstrata Nickel

Santo Domingo.- United Nations Development Program (UNDP) local representative Valerie Julliand on Wednesday defended the impartiality of the six technicians hired on the Dominican Government’s request to assess the environmental impact study submitted by the company Xstrata Nickel Falcondo to min nickel at Loma Miranda (central).

Quoted by diariolibre.com, the official was responding to a group of protesters, led by the priest Rogelio Cruz, who on Tuesday said they didn’t trust the foreign technicians on their alleged ties with mining companies.

She stressed that the UN representation in the country has proven its impartiality and guarantees neutrality given the seriousness of the work.

Julliand admitted that professional mining experts are few in the world, and that two of the six technicians contracted have conducted similar assessments for mining companies, but not as consultants or employees.

She cautioned however that the right to peaceful protest there wouldn’t have no bearing on the results of the work, because the UNDP doesn’t bow to pressure.