Ústí nad Labem - The northern part of the country is in/famous for its industrial moon-like landscape, which is a direct consequence of heavy coal mining industry, thriving especially during the communist times.
Now, three non-governmental organizations have launched a campaign in the region of Ústí nad Labem in northern part of the Czech Republic to curb the brown coal mining.
The campaign posters depicting a pregnant woman and a slogan "Life begins and coal mining ends" are to be seen on billboards across the region in the month of March.
The environmental organizations - Hnutí Duha (Rainbow Movement), Czech branch of Greenpeace and Litvínov-based Kořeny (Roots) - want to remind the Czech politicians that most of the local people wish the mining limits be observed, as the government under Petr Pitthart, former PM, committed to following in 1991.
Besides the posters, the organizations have jointly produced a web site www.zitnebotezit.cz via which the citizens of the Czech Republic may address the government.
The advertisement campaign cost about 200,000 CZK, which was largely covered by a grant given to Hnutí duha.
Coal as election campaign topic
The organizers assume the issue of coal mining will become a key topic in the forthcoming regional elections in the fall this year.
"An overwhelming majority of the local people want to protect the towns and villages against the surface mining. Therefore we decided to do a campaign that is to draw attention of thousands of people to the topic of coal mining," said Petr Machálek from Hnutí Duha.
"Promting the mining limits is going to be one of the toughest tasks for the new regional administration. Reducing the coal mining is to be among the major issues of the election campaign. The poster adds symbolize a new life that is going to enter this region with the mining decline," explained Machálek.
The eco-organizations suggested the regional administration propose to the Czech government to stop the coal mining in Horní Jiřetín and Černice, which are among the most endangered villages that have been nearly wiped out by the mining industry.
"Curbing to bring prosperity"
All the organizations - Hnutí Duha, Greenpeace and Kořeny - are convinced that a gradual reduction of the coal mines, carefully planned for the next few decades, is to boost the region's economy.
Mostecká uhelná společnost (Most´s mining company), however, claims that coal mining limits could lead to thousands of unemployed people - with closing down the mines, coal miners as well as other coal-mining-related workers would lose their jobs.
The mining opponents, however, refuse this theory, claiming that for example the only industrial zone Triangl located among the towns of Most, Chomutov and Louny, will create 4,000 jobs.
The Ústí nad Labem region's projects, to which CzechInvest has granted investment offers in the past 8 years, created 16,000 jobs.
"Coal mining supporters claim coal is very important for our country and we have to capitalize on this "wealth", says Emil Jeníček from the Kořeny association.
"But I have been living here for years and all I see is just negative stuff. Degraded landscape, high unemployment rate, impacts on life environment and so on. I don't think Central Europe is a place where we should make living on production of something of such low value added," claims Emil Jeníček.
