【767-769】南非煤炭社区拥有世界上最糟糕的空气&在里斯本餐厅附近发现罗马遗骸&对许多年轻印尼人来说，不投票看上去很吸引人

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AS IT IS

South African Coal Community Has World’s Worst Air

February 02, 2019

Patrick Mdluli considered himself to be a healthy person for most of his life.

Then, two years ago, the 35-year-old South African moved to Middleburg, a town in Mpumalanga province. The area is known as the center of South Africa’s coal mining industry.

Mdluli soon began developing health problems, including tuberculosis and disorders related to his nose.

“You go to doctors, they tell you the very same thing. ’Are you living next to a mine?’ Yes, I am. ‘Are you living next to a dumping site?’ Yes, I am.”

In fact, a large coal mine operates right behind Mdluli’s home. Mine workers set off explosives every day. The explosions shake his home and fill its rooms with dust.

Today, Mpumalanga province has some of the most polluted air in the world. That claim comes from the environmental group Greenpeace. Using satellite images, the group found that Mpumalanga is the world’s worst “hot spot” for nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that comes from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal.

The area in and around Middleburg has 12 large coal mines. Mdluli and others living in this part of South Africa say cracks are forming in the walls of their homes because of the powerful, never-ending mining blasts.

But it is their health that suffers most, says Doctor Mohammed Tayob. He leads a local public health center.

Tayob has lived in the area all of his life. He says many new mines have opened there as the nation seeks to profit from coal exports. Now, the area has a higher death rate for young children than other areas. Among adults, it has higher rates for heart attacks and diseases that affect breathing, the doctor said.

While the mines profit, many locals suffer

Although the mines bring in money, locals say the coal companies have done little to improve the lives of community members. Middleburg is a poor town. Many people living there lack services like electricity and running water.

Tayob blames the coal mining industry and poor governance for the current situation. He says the government has failed to enforce environmental laws related to mining.

“One cannot be faulted in thinking, ‘Is there some level of corruption operating in this area as well, where these big boys are getting away with murder, literally?’ They're literally getting away with murder.”

VOA reporters contacted three of the larger mines in the area. None answered a request for comment.

Environmental activist Bafana Hlatshwayo says he and other activists are preparing to appeal to decision-makers at a mining industry gathering in Cape Town. And he wants to bring attention to another of the area’s resources: sunshine.

Hlatshwayo hopes leaders consider bringing solar panel production to Mpumalanga, which means “the place where the sun rises” in the Zulu language.

“We are not saying we want to close down the mines. We must go the renewable energy way.”

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Anita Powell reported this story for VOA News. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

dump - v. to leave or get rid of (something or someone) quickly or without concern

crack - n. a thin line in the surface of something that is broken but not separated into pieces

hot spot - n. a place where there is much danger or fighting

literally - adv. used to stress that a statement or description is true and accurate even though it may be surprising

solar panel - n. a large, flat piece of equipment that uses the sun's light or heat to create electricity

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AS IT IS

Roman Remains Found Near Lisbon Restaurant

February 02, 2019

A view of findings from an ancient Roman cemetery with 2000-year-old skeletons and artifacts, found below a restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal, January 24, 2019.

Portuguese archaeologists have discovered a large Roman burial place holding 2,000-year-old human remains in Lisbon.

The scientists were digging near Solar dos Presuntos, a very famous restaurant in the city.

It was found after the restaurant’s owners decided to expand their space, which opened in 1974 in Lisbon’s historical center.

To get the expansion project approved, city officials required that a team of archaeologists first examine the land.

Nuno Neto is an archaeologist and founding partner at Neoepica, the company that performed the dig. His team went down to a depth of around six meters.

Neto told Reuters news agency: “What we found was a big surprise… The level of preservation is excellent, and the set of artifacts is fabulous.”

The burial place was found to contain the skeletons of 25 people, 35 sets of burned remains, pottery and money used in ancient burial ceremonies. All have been moved to Neoepica’s research laboratory. Later, they will go to the city council.

The findings were made public last month, but archaeologists have been working on the area since 2016.

Workers have begun to build onto the restaurant. The owners see the discovery of the Roman burial site as a good thing. They hope to have some of the ancient objects on display in the future.

Roman armies occupied Olissipo, as Lisbon used to be known, around 200 BC and it remained under Roman control for several centuries.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Catarina Demony reported this story for Reuters news agency. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

preservation – n. the act of keeping something in its original state or in good condition

artifact – n. a simple object, such as a tool or weapon, that was made by people in the past

pottery – n. objects, such as bowls, that are made out of clay and then baked at high temperatures so that they become hard

display – n. an arrangement of objects intended to decorate, advertise, entertain, or inform people about something

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AS IT IS

For Many Young Indonesians, Not Voting Looks Appealing

February 02, 2019

A couple rides a motorcycle past a campaign banners for Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, left, and running mate Sandiaga Uno in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Indonesia is preparing for presidential elections. The voting will take place in two months.

Younger Indonesians are showing signs of dissatisfaction with the country’s political establishment. Many observers are worried that young people may choose not to vote in the April 17 elections.

Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known as Ahok, has urged his supporters to vote. His appeal appeared in a letter that was made public shortly after his release from jail. The former governor served an almost two-year prison sentence for violating the country’s blasphemy law.

Some of his supporters are dissatisfied with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi. In his letter, Ahok urged them against golput — short for golongan putih, the Indonesian term for non-voting.

Millennial votes

It is widely believed that the word golput entered the Indonesian language in 1971, when activists protested elections during the presidency of Suharto. Voting at that time was hardly democratic. Suharto led the country from 1967 to 1998.

An estimated 58.9 million Indonesian voters did not take part in the 2014 elections. That compares with 48.3 million who did not vote in the 2009 elections. Those numbers come from The Partnership for Governance Reform and Association for Elections and Democracy.

Young Indonesians have become an important voting bloc in the 2019 elections. This can be seen in the rise of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), whose campaign is designed to appeal to millennials, voters under the age of 40.

Observers believe that both the campaigns of Jokowi and his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, are attempting to target younger voters. Their campaigns repeat expressions from pop culture, such as when Jokowi used the term "Winter is coming" from the television show Game of Thrones. The two candidates have also promised to defend issues of importance to millennials, such as fighting high unemployment.

FILE - A woman walks past a poster of Indonesia's presidential candidates Prabowo Subianto (L) and Joko Widodo during a debate in Jakarta June 15, 2014.

Dissatisfaction with candidates

Similar to Indonesian politics in the past, the talk about golput in 2019 has been linked to public dissatisfaction with the presidential candidates.

Rivanlee Anandar is a researcher at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence. The 25-year-old told VOA that he plans to vote, but he will mark ballots for both candidates. As a result, his vote will not count.

“Why both? You can interpret it however you want, either I trust in both candidates or distrust them completely. It’s more the second option, especially on human rights issues,” he said.

Nabila Ernada, age 22, expressed similar disappointment. Ernada told VOA that she plans to vote in April because it is her duty. But she added, “I don’t really believe that my vote is really making a difference towards the political scene in Indonesia.”

Similar to Ernada, Moudy Alfiana, 23, also plans on voting. “Many people believe that the candidates are the same, but if you look at their visions, there’s also differences,” Alfiana said. But she noted that election campaign promises are no more than just that -- a promise.

Being surrounded by people who don’t plan to vote, I can understand where they are coming from, she added.

Many things make people choose not to vote, notes lawyer Alghiffari Aqsa, the former director at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute. “They may feel as if the elections don’t impact their lives or they disagree with the current political system. They may dislike the candidates or distrust the representative democratic system,” he said.

Aqsa added that although people are more open to golput as an option this year, there is still a sense of dishonor surrounding it.

“If we look at social media, there’s a lot of names that people like to call those who abstain, from bad citizens, criminals…egoists to edgy,” he said.

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I'm George Grow.

Stanley Widianto reported this story for VOANews.com. George Grow adapted his report for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

blasphemy – n. officially confirmed as real or true

disengage – v. to withdraw; to release or free from something

disenfranchise – v. to remove the legal right of something, such as the right to vote

interpret – v. to explain the meaning of something

vision – n. the power of seeing; something seen in a dream

egoist – n. a self-centered person

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