Saving Iceland

Reykjavik newspaper ‘Bladid’ reports that Norwegian oil and aluminium company Hydro (or Norsk Hydro as they are known in Iceland) and the Icelandic government met yesterday to discuss the possibility of building a 600,000 ton smelter in Iceland within the next eight years. The company’s representatives met with Iceland’s Minister of Industries Jón Sigurdsson yesterday to present their ideas, as Bladid reports.

However, Sigurdsson denied on Icelandic State Radio that the smelter plan was ever mentioned in the talks… How shady everything has become in the little aluminium republic. Read More

In Alicante, Spain, where Alcoa owns an aluminium factory, signs denouncing Alcoa’s presence in Iceland have appeared.  Graffiti and banners on the walls of Alcoa’s factory and all over Alicante have been appearing. All over the world people have risen up against the heavy industrial violence against the Icelandic wildernesses.

On the 30th of September there was a public action with people concentrating at the doors of the factory and a hand out of information in the center of Alicante. Read More

The following is a report back from one of the people at the London protest against the heavy industrialisation of Iceland and Trinidad on the 27th of October 2006.

The demo was attended by about 40 people, not too bad for a weekday demo in inner city London (we chose to have the demo then so that we could get into the embassies.) Perhaps next time we will organize something on a weekend. About a quarter of the demo were Trinidadians. We started the event with an emotional funeral ceremony, with talks from an anti-dam activist who’se been involved in the anti-Narmada dam campaign (India) as well as the anti-Karahnjukar dam campaign (Iceland); Sue Doughty, former Liberal MP, talked about her attempts to get the UK parliament to ask the Icelandic state to reconsider its path of heavy industry; two Trinidadian speakers: talked about the neo-colonialist-liberal invasion by western corporations of the third world, and the beauty of the Cedros Peninsula and tragedy of the Aluminium development, respectively; then an Icelandic speaker who talked about the loss of the Icelandic Karahnjukar wilderness, and the future plans of heavy industry in Iceland. Read More

by Sujatha Fernandes, CorpWatch September 6th, 2006

The roads that wander through the southwestern peninsula of Trinidad pass small fishing villages, mangrove swamps, and coconut plantations; they skirt herds of buffalypso and reveal sheltered beach coves. This February, Alcoa signed an agreement in principle with the Trinidad and Tobago Government that threatens to fundamentally alter this gentle landscape. Plans by the Pittsburgh-based manufacturing company to build a large aluminum smelter have sparked criticism from local residents and environmentalists. Read More

Just a little piece of news from Iceland (October 2006).
A group of activists went and dumped a mountain (well, a hill) of aluminium in front of the parliament and in the parliament square.
Just keeping our objections in the collective mind…

Sheffield activists were amongst the many people who headed out to Iceland this summer to support the protest camp against the Kárahnjúkar Hydroelectric Project, and the Icelandic governments dam building and industrialisation programme more generally. This dam building programme is threatening some of the largest and most incredible pristine areas of wilderness in Europe. The Kárahnjúkar dam is north of the Vatnajökull glacier, Europe’s biggest glacier. The protest camp was set up in the affected area and activists from Iceland, other parts of Europe and North America took part in a series of actions over July and August. Read More

Join us on a theatrical and interactive funeral march to mark the murder of Kárahnjúkar, Iceland, and the impending murder of the Cedros Peninsula, Trinidad, at the bloody hands of Alcoa and heavy industry.

Set in one of the financial capitals of todays Empire, this protest will mark the begining of the joint struggle against ALCOA and the heavy industrial invasion of both Iceland and Trinidad.

The four wildernesses in the Eastern Highlands of Iceland whose cheap death will power one aluminium smelter by the summer of 2007, are now either in the process of being flooded or are soon to be drained. The Cedros Peninsula of Trinidad will have much of its tropical rainforests cleared and hundreds of local residents outed to make way for two gas powered aluminium smelters. Read More

3 October 2006

A bomb threat was received at the Alcoa offices in Reyðarfjörður, east Iceland, just before noon yesterday. According to Erna Indriðadóttir, public relations officer for Alcoa in Iceland, a man called and spoke in English, mentioning a bomb in the premises. Police was called in but nothing was found. No further action was deemed necessary.

http://www.reykjavik.com/News.aspx?aid=2006110030009

Alcoa claim that they are one of the most ethical corporations in the world. Really? Below is a message sent to us from our friends fighting Alcoa in Trinidad and Tobago”, where Alcoa wishes to cut down pristine rainforests and displace houndreds of people in order to mine the bauxite (aluminium ore) and build gas powered smelters. As in Iceland, there is a popular opposition to Alcoa in Trinidad and Tobago, yet the government welcomes Alcoa’s supposed ‘business.’  Read More