Mining giant’s destruction of sacred Aboriginal caves ‘inexcusable’

Canberra, Dec 10 : An Australian parliamentary inquiry on Thursday called for mining giant Rio Tinto to compensate indigenous members after it destroyed sacred caves.
Rio Tinto earlier this year blew up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge caves in Western Australia’s Pilbara region despite the site’s cultural significance, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Joint Standing Committee of Northern Australia, which is conducting an inquiry into the incident, on Wednesday tabled its interim report, describing the decision to destroy the rock shelters against the wishes of local indigenous communities as “inexcusable”.
“Never again can we allow the destruction, the devastation and the vandalism of cultural sites as has occurred with the Juukan Gorge – never again,” the report said.
“The blast devastated a place of personal, community, national and international significance,” it said.
“Rio Tinto’s role in this tragedy is inexcusable… Rio knew the value of what they were destroying but blew it up anyway.”