Having noted the various stages of the visit made by the Minister of Mines and Strategic Industries and his collaborators in the districts of Toliara I and Toliara II on March 15, 2019 and recorded the decisions to 
suspend the activities of the geotechnical platform of the Australian mining project Base Toliara, and to report to the President of the Republic and to the Prime Minister who should decide,
The civil society organizations that signed this communiqué support the cancellation claims of this Base Toliara mining project expressed by the riparian communities for several years, and reiterated before the general public and the decision-makers in recent weeks, especially during this descent. in the field of senior officials, stress that the various reasons for the need to stop this project put forward by the inhabitants concerning the impacts on health, the environment and their livelihoods should be considered with the greatest attention and most serious, especially since the Minister declared that the central state "will prevail the interest of the population" recall that the mining company highlights the creation of jobs, but avoids highlighting that for any mining company in Madagascar and in the world, the number of jobs created is relatively important during the few years of the construction phase - the published figures often include several hundred or even thousands of workers recruited from other countries without necessarily making it clear - and this number of jobs drops drastically from the beginning of the exploitation phase. The fluctuation of the price of ilmenite on the world market then causes from time to time dismissals and reductions of direct and indirect jobs. advocate for sustainable economic development that respects the activities and cultures of rural local communities, which must be supported by public policies, for the exploitation by local communities of their agricultural, animal and fishery resources, while preserving their environment.
The economic balance sheet for the populations of the Toliara I and II districts composed mainly of pastoralists, farmers and fishermen, as well as for the ecological and tourist sectors, other sources of national pride and world renown in the region, is therefore clearly negative if this mining project continues.
Recall that the area of the mining concession Ranobe, covered by the current operating license is 2,500 hectares but that the mining company has already obtained for several years three (3) other mining concessions that are in the exploration phase, including those of Ankililoaka (8,886 ha), Basibasy (8,130 ha) and Morombe (20,637 ha). In addition, these three concessions affect several sensitive and protected environmental sites, including the Mikea Forest where the Mikea indigenous group lives.
We, civil society organizations signatory to this communiqué, are therefore in solidarity with the different groups of inhabitants and from the region who oppose the mining project Base Toliara and ask the President of the Republic and the government, to finally stop the mining project Base Toliara
