Photo by the Radomir Municipality
Residents of the western Bulgarian town of Radomir are voting Sunday in a referendum on gold mining in the region.
Locals are to answer the question of “Do you agree that the Radomir Municipality should not approve development plans for the extraction of sub-surface resources?” and the options are “yes” or “no,” according to reports of TV channel News7.
The Radomir Municipal Council allocated around BGN 40 000 to the referendum.
The referendum was organized after several companies expressed interest in gold mining in the region of Gorna Dikanya and Dolna Dikanya.
Environmentalists have opposed the activities, stressing that the method of extraction envisages the use if cyanide.
Some locals insist that the activities will not bring economic benefits because they will create 30 jobs with an average monthly salary of less than BGN 200.