BY
BILL MASON
BRISBANE The Queensland Labor government's department of state development has given formal notice to protesters camped outside the site of the Narangba nuclear irradiation plant, now under construction, that they will be evicted by police on February 10.
An application by the department for eviction will be heard in the Supreme Court on February 5. The department originally ordered the protesters to leave the camp which is opposite the Steritech-owned facility, 50 kilometres north of Brisbane by January 20, but police have not acted on the order.
We are calling on people to come to the camp in support of the campaign to stop the facility, protest spokesperson Anna Barnes said on January 23. The government has failed to respond to community concerns about the cracks in the radiation chamber concrete discovered during the January 6 action [when demonstrators were able to enter the site and investigate the state of the building work]. Video evidence has been given to government officials, but there has still been no response, she said.
Camp residents have dug holes and are prepared to lock themselves inside to defend the protest against any police attack.
The Stop Food Irradiation Alliance meets every Wednesday, 7pm, at the Grass Roots Centre, 192 Boundary Street, West End. Visit <http://www.foodirradiationinfo.org>.
From Green Left Weekly, January 29, 2003.
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