奇速英语

瑞典城镇面临巨大的发展瓶颈

A huge hole has opened up in the earth. Thousands of people will soon be packing their belongings and moving on. In some cases, whole buildings will be taken apart brick by brick and carried to a safer location. This dramatic scene may sound like one of the more passages of the Old Testament,Book of Exodus. This dramatic scene may sound like a tale, but it’s the strange reality unfolding in the town of Kiruna, northern Sweden.

A nearby iron ore mine -- Kiruna’s main source of income and employment for more than a century -- has begun to damage the city in recent years. Small cracks have also begun to show on the streets in businesses and living areas. A detailed analysis by LKAB (the state-owned company that operates the mine) has predicted that these building will only get worse as it attempts to access the most difficult to reach minerals.

According to Erika Lindblad of LKAB, the remaining iron ore bodies are located directly under the city. This creates a problem as the law, and the company’s own policy, prohibits mining under populated areas. “When the mines initially opened, it made sense to build housing near the workplaces, Lindblad said. “However, no one could have imagined that over 120 years later we would be mining ore a kilometre below ground.”

The people of Kiruna have been aware of these developments since 2004 when LKAB sent local residents a letter explaining the situation. In the period since, the residents have been forced to face it. Either the mine, which employs around 4,000 local people, closes down and the city loses its primary source of income, or it continues to operate and a large part of Kiruna’s inhabitants forced to move a new location.

“The city is the mine and the mine is the city,” Cars, head of the city. said. “We have lived together for 100 years and we have a huge dependence on each other. Without the mine the town would die.”