Greenlanders Demonstrate For Rights To Ruby
by Niels Madsen,
Nuuk, Greenland
26 September 2008
Friday, 26 September 2008, was a cold, gray, windy day in Nuuk, the capitol of Greenland. There was already one protest march brewing outside the Parliament. Later that day group would be protesting the nomination of Mr. Per Berthelsen as the new Minister of Finance. Berthelsen had been in and out of all three (3) of Greenland’s major political parties and he was trusted by few. He had become notorious for suppressing blogger’s comments, posting comments about his “old school master” style, and desire to cling to office.
Against the heated background of that political turmoil, another hardy group of Greenlanders arrived at the very same gates of government, this team to demand their rights to ruby and to protest the egregious actions of the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) who were desecrating those rights held sacred in custom and guaranteed by law.
With the threat of snow in the air, a crowd of men, women and their children gathered outside the offices of the BMP, marched past the Mayor’s window and made their stand and gave their speeches at the doors of Parliament. At that very moment, the vote on the new Minister of Finance was roaring like a fire inside, important to everyone on the island because the Minister of Finance sits among others on the “Joint Committee” for the Democrat party and must give up his seats if he is gong to be the finance minister for the Siumut party.
The committee is the joint Danish and Greenlandic political delegation that will itemize those important issues requiring resolution before the “self-governing” phase of Greenland’s drive towards independence from colonial Denmark starts, maybe next year.
This devolution is scheduled to deliver Greenland to full independence by July 2009, and the debate over the island’s natural resources, including ruby and diamond, gold and platinum, as well as oil and gas, has become the battleground of liberty, toward full independence some time in the future.
On that cold, windy Friday in Nuuk, the protest group delivered a petition in support of Greenlander’s rights to ruby, that had been signed by 3,500 people, to Mr. Kim Kielsen, the Minister of Mines and Energy. As a mark of the importance of the issue, Kim Kielsen was kind enough to show up, even though he was on sick leave due to a concussion. More actions are planned later.
