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I'm deeply hurt and I feel very very sad and outraged
and really there's anger inside me.
for us this isn't development;
it's the destruction of the region, and it's the degradation of the region
This area, and on our left and down from here the wood's been cut already.
the entire area is now deforested
and I believe that if my children were here they would cry seeing that.
it's really unbelievable the damage that's been done here already.
What frightens us
is the forests which are going to be destroyed in that area
have the characteristics of ancient forests.
Therefore the loss is a very serious one for our country,
it is very serious for the reason that the environmental damage caused will be irreversible.
Thanks to the mine we've always had work.
It's the only enterprise, in these difficult times,
when every day 1,000 people lose their job in Greece -they are out of work
because of the measures applied,
here we have job opportunities.
I can't believe there are people who throw stones to an investment which is one of the very few in this area.
If the work is done properly, then it should be done.
Because we're talking about lots of jobs, because people..
the thing is, not all of us can live off tourism ok? let's not forget that.
Yes, in our region there's high unemployment and people need these jobs!
We can't all become ecologists; we need some food too, as Germans say!
I believe this gold investment
will destroy our water,
the air we breathe.
Regarding our business, I believe that our final product will greatly deteriorate,
as well as our nameĀ and our region.
We'll no longer have what we have right now;
The pure milk, the pure product that people ask for, from unpolluted areas.
We keep on making the same mistakes. We're only concerned about the present and we're not concerned about the future.
I've been living here since many years, in this place,
in this beautiful place.
They're going to construct here two barriers at 500m,
which will be receiving the metallurgical waste that is extremely toxic;
they're talking about 300 tons of dust per hour.
I believe that in the surrounding villages sooner or later the situation won't be viable either;
The conditions will deteriorate dramatically
because of the dust, the water pollution,
the lack of water,
the entire region of Halkidiki takes water from here;
Let me tell you that 31,700 hectares were given to the company
for 11 million euros.
If that's not colonisation, then what is?
Some were vomiting, others were falling down,
others were shouting because they were hit by tear gas,
we couldn't see,
we were in a sheer state of panic.
Why they chase us, why they beat us, why so much violence
in order to defend this investment
which doesn't offer anything to Greece?
Nothing.
you feel that the mountain doesn't belong to you anymore, doesn't belong to the state anymore,
you feel that it's under occupation.
that it's a foreign land now.
There are always security guards, there are always some riot policeman,
4 or 5 always,
they film us all the time.
They use this crisis as an excuse.
There are people who are being manipulated.
It is shameful, what canadian companies are doing here - that are supposedly civilised.