 |
| If you love freedom do not flush! |
In his opinion piece Alfredo Barnechea throws out examples of successful government owned companies like Norwegian Statoil. This is really a misnomer and false representation. Statoil is state own in name only. Statoil is in reality an investor owned company with huge barriers between its operations and government influence. It is much more aligned with privately held companies than government run companies. Gazprom is also investor owned and Sonatach is a 100% owned subsidiary of ‘Sonatrach International Holding Corporation,' which is itself owned by the Sonatrach Group.
Now let's compare the history of a Peruvian government owned company. Here in Perú the one mine I hear brought up over and over again, as an example of an environmental disaster within Perú, is the La Oroya polymetallic smelter (now owned by Doe Run Mining). Nearly 90 years old, the government owned La Oroya mine for 23 years, during which time the pollution grew to unmanageable levels. The mine was then sold in a “too little too late” attempt to clean it up. It was established by the American Cerro de Pasco Corporation in 1922, was nationalized and became the property of Centromin in 1974 and was then privatized in 1997 when Doe Run bought it for US$247 million. It consists of a copper and lead smelter and zinc refinery.
When Doe Run bought La Oroya, it took over Centromin's PAMA, (Programa de Adecuación y Manejo Ambiental or Environmental Remediation and Management Program), an environmental contract requiring environmental remediation measures. The measures required new sulfuric acid plants, elimination of fugitive gases from the coke plant, use of oxygenated gases in the anodic residue plant, a water treatment plant for the copper refinery, a recirculation system for cooling waters at the smelter, management and disposal of acidic solutions at the silver refinery, an industrial wastewater treatment plant for the smelter and refinery, a containment dam for the lead mud near the zileret plant, a granulation process water at the lead smelter, an anode washing system at the zinc refinery, management and disposal of lead and copper slag wastes, domestic waste water treatment, and domestic waste disposal.
Because of the difficulty, and potential impossibility of the task, Doe Run Peru has been indemnified by Centromin (and guaranteed by the Peruvian Government) against any environmental liability arising out of Centromin's prior operation. Doe Run's original commitment to this program was US$107 million but it is now expected that it will cost at least US$244 million. The cleanup process continues today.
We should all fear the end of free markets. What would then ensue, if such an event were to occur, is an explosion of government corruption and totalitarian rule. This occurs anytime that so much power is centralized and competition is removed. Throughout history Government has failed miserably at irradiating poverty and offering equal opportunity to all citizens. Government, by it’s very nature, creates nothing efficiently and can only rob from those that do and give it to those that don’t. That is a huge mistake that only serves to more deeply ingrain poverty. The only way to drastically and permanently reduce poverty and financial inequality is to stop demonizing and start enlisting the expertise of free enterprise businesses, though refundable tax credit incentives, to get involved and tackle these problems directly. Government ego and control is the impediment not the answer. It is insanity to expect the non-producers that occupy the majority of government positions to produce that which they never have accomplished themselves.
Comments posted here may be copied to the Peru-N-English Discussion Group site.
No comments:
Post a Comment