November 20, 2007 — A group of activists concerned about Climate Change occupied the Simcoa silicon plant at Kemerton, 160kms south of Perth, for seven hours on Monday…
SIMCOA ACTION — Two people locked themselves onto a conveyor belt of the plant, with two others on the gate — forcing the closure of operations.
Details are sketchy at this stage, but it seems two of the group were charged with Trespass and will appear in the Bunbury Courthouse this Friday at 9.30. They say they will both plead guilty and ask that supporters gather at the Courthouse for potential further non-violent direct actions against Simcoa.
A spokesperson for the activists said the group forced the silicon plant to shut down for seven hours forcing 160 workers to stop work. The group say Simcoa’s forest destruction equals climate chaos.
The Japanese-owned company Simcoa has an annual allocation of 150,000 tonnes of “3rd grade” jarrah logs for making into charcoal which is used in the process of making silicon. The Labor government intends to continue supplying Simcoa with jarrah. At present the government lets Simcoa have this jarrah at around $4/tonne.
Substitutes that Simcoa could use, like plantation timber cannot compete with this price and as a result jarrah is still being plundered from our forests at alarming rates. Simcoa also consumes 8% of W.A.‘s electricity, at very reduced rates!
The jarrah logs, which could be used by saw mills to value-added the timber, are turned into woodchips. Then the whole lot is turned into charcoal to make silicon.