The Chilean government must create a permanent fund for the development of mining regions using part of the taxes collected from the industry, lower house member Marcos Espinosa told BNamericas.

On Monday, inhabitants of northern region II’s Calama city held a second general strike to protest against the government’s “abandonment” of the city despite the significant contribution to fiscal coffers made by nearby mining operations.

Mining districts should receive an appropriate retribution for having to put up with the negative externalities of the mining industry, said Espinosa, a member of the opposition radical (PRSD) party.

The first general strike in Calama was held at end-June.

At that time, protesters called on the government to create a fund, allocating 5% of taxes being paid by state-owned and private companies, for the development of regions with mining activities, according to Espinoza.

“The government responded with the potential creation of a roundtable, but the topics for discussion did not include the implementation of the fund,” he said.

“Current mechanisms for the distribution of the income from mining activities have not resulted in any special contribution for mining regions, which hold the country’s most significant economic activity,” Espinosa said, adding: “The spirit of the law that made changes to the royalty system in Chile was to make a greater contribution to mining regions, but that hasn’t happened in practice.”

“We’re calling on President Sebastiбn Piсera to honor the commitment he made with mining regions during the presidential campaign [when he said] that he would support a bill drafted by senator Josй Antonio Gуmez and me for the creation of such a fund,” Espinosa said.

The development of regions where mining activities take place is often disproportionate to the contribution they make to the country’s fiscal income. “These regions do not receive appropriate compensation,” Espinosa said.

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