Employees of Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) unit Rotem Amfert Negev Ltd. have asked Yesh Atid chairman and Minister of Finance Yair Lapid to intervene to save Israel's phosphates industry. Rotem Amfert workers committee chairman Moshe Hadad, on behalf of the company's 1,200 employees, has asked Lapid for an urgent meeting, before a final decision is made on phosphate mining at Sde Barir, near Arad.
The request comes, among other things, in view of objections by Minister of Health Yael German, also of Yesh Atid, to mining at the site, on the grounds that it could jeopardize the health of Arad's residents and of local Bedouin. Hadad said that if mining was not allowed at Sde Barir, this would doom Israel's phosphates industry, and thousands of workers who directly and indirectly earn their livelihoods from it would be fired.
Israel Chemicals and Rotem Amfert are requesting a monitoring study, as part of a comprehensive pilot, to examine the effect of mining at Sde Barir on air quality as a preliminary step before a decision is taken on permitting mining in the area.
German also opposes this process. She told "Globes", "There will be no mining at Sde Barir." She said that her opinion was in line with Ministry of Health experts. "I read the opinion written on the subject, and I was persuaded that they were right. Mining in this location, mainly because of the principle of prevention, is cannot be allowed."
While top Ministry of Health officials oppose phosphates mining at Sde Barir, the Ministry of the Interior's Planning Administration believes that, until a final decision is made on the subject, a pilot should be carried out to test whether this activity endangers local residents' health. Next week, Planning Administration officials and German will tour Sde Barir.
Israel Chemicals warns that the phosphates on the Rotem Plain will run out within 8-10 years, and that a new mining site should be prepared. It says that Sde Barir is the most suitable site. "This is a strategic field for us, in terms of the quantity of phosphates and their quality," Israel Chemicals VP and COO Asher Grinbaum told "Globes". "Within a decade, mining at the Rotem Plain, Oron, and Zin will be exhausted, and a decision on the subject should be made now. Without Sde Barir, there is no Rotem. We will ensure ourselves alternatives, and our teams are making a preliminary examination of alternative phosphates sites around the world. We're examining offers of cooperation to develop alternative phosphates fields to Sde Barir.
"The main problem is that the test which should decide the question whether or not to mine is not being made," Grinbaum said, "Obviously, if this pilot finds that mining will jeopardize human life, we won't mine. Even though Israel Chemicals is a multinational, it considers Israel as its country, and the Negev as its home. We feel a commitment and responsibility to our employees in the Negev, and we will be happy to continue investing in and developming the phosphates industry in the Negev. It depends on the Israeli government."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 5, 2013
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