I have a question for you: what do you think is more important? Some economic development that will last for about 15-20 years and that’s it, but which destroys a beautiful area, including some cultural and historical heritage or investing money into developing a long term plan for a beautiful but undeveloped zone?
We have one beautiful area (mountains, great views, great touristic potential) but filled with people with no jobs, no places to develop an industry.
Solution no 1: Opening a huge mine to extract gold and silver, a mine that will cover the entire zone. Thousands of people have to move theirs houses, but will have a place to work. The drawback is that the mine will only last up to 20 years and will use a great quantity of cyanide that will eventually destroy the ecosystem (the whole area will be useless for hundreds of years). Historical sites and old, valuable houses will be destroyed in this manner.
Solution no 2: Investing some money. Finding another way of extracting the gold and silver that won’t affect the surroundings that much. Investing for developing a touristic resort. This will take a certain amount of time and a considerable amount of money, but it will bring some long term advantages.
What would you chose?
I personally incline for the second solution. I recently visited the area and I saw some of the most beautiful views, friendly people and a great place to spend some time. Here are some pictures to see what I’m talking about.
