Residents Petition Against Capsuleer Station
- January 24th, YC114
- Posted in Darlan Mosota . Tech4 News
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Although the protests were peaceful, some arrests were made.
Nisuwa V, Black Rise (State News Agency) – There were angry scenes outside the planetary governor’s office this week as a delegation from People Against Capsuleers Manufacturing All Narcotics submitted a petition calling for action against the capsuleer corporation Uppers and Downers.
The petition, which has over 250,000 signatures, was handed over to the Governor’s Office two days ago. It calls for immediate action be taken to remove the facility in orbit around Moon 1 which is rumored to be producing contraband boosters.
Sheena Kasgill, the spokesperson for People Against Capsuleers Manufacturing All Narcotics, said “It’s a travesty that this was allowed in the first place. Less than a hundred thousand kilometers from our atmosphere, there are laboratories churning out mind-altering boosters. [...] The Planetary Governor’s office must act against this disaster waiting to happen!”
The facility around Moon 1 has been in operation for many months however it was only recently risen in notoriety since it was leaked that booster production was being undertaken there. We approached the Planetary Governor’s office for a response. Vice-Commander Dalgeen commented, “This is a classic reaction from people who have no idea how things work in space. We have no control over the capsuleers here in low-security space. We cannot ask them to stop and we cannot just go around attacking capsuleer corporations. And the notion that one of those laboratories could ever reach our atmosphere following an attack is preposterous.”
Governor Charles Yost’s stance on this issue has inflamed the feeling planet-side and a protest camp has sprung up outside the governor’s office. These protest camps have become popular following official Caldari dictates regarding the process for responding to strikes and protests. This dictate was given by Executor Heth following the Piak III incident where the brutal attempt to break the strike was shown across the galaxy and was a major embarrassment for the Caldari State.
Nisuwa V and Moon, Black Rise
Rumors have spread that the Planetary Governor is reluctant to act as Uppers and Downers are known booster suppliers to pilots of the Caldari Militia and he is unwilling to disrupt the supply of combat boosters to friendly pilots who are currently losing the war in the Black Rise region.
A source within the Yost’s office who wished to remain anonymous played down this rumor by saying “[i]f you access the public network channel of that corporation you will see more Gallente Militia pilots present in there than Caldari Militia. In fact the rumor is the wrong way around, and the State would probably be better off with the supply of boosters from Moon 1 being stopped.”
When Uppers and Downers was contacted regarding their facility, A Wivers, a spokesman for the corporation, had this to say: “Our manufacturing facility follows all CONCORD protocols and is certainly not the business of non-capsuleers. Our secure facility operates with the highest level of safety and security and there is no threat to the residents of Planet Six. Should the facilities be damaged or destroyed anything within those facilities will be destroyed in the vacuum of space.”
And in regard to the statement that they were helping the Caldari war effort they responded that “UPPE is affiliated with the Ishukone Corporation and is not aligned to any faction or state, we operate under a free market economy and will continue to sell to our existing customers. Not all of our customers remain in the public channel referred to by your source and will join to place orders and leave once their orders are placed. Some customers choose to stay out of the channel and place orders through private capsuleer communication. So accessing our public network channel is not the sole indication of our entire client base.”
However the controversy continues to rage with the protest camp being given 48 hours to disperse before the security forces move in. Whether the government will carry out this threat is yet to be seen.
Well, given that this system has been in Federation control for the past several months, I’m sure that the Gallentean occupational authorities will take care of this.
It’s interesting to note how the local populace are already behaving in a Gallentean fashion by petitioning their governor over a narcotics concern. Not very Caldari of them by not unquestioningly following the corporate dictatorship. I must say that a quarter of a million people in Nisuwa V is quite a hefty population for a recently settled region that often gets evacuated whenever the Federation military shows up to conquer the area.
Although census figures are unavailable, the lack of adequate policing in low-security systems means it is unsurprising that the warring factions are unable to successfully govern the local colonies. It is likely that the working population comprises ex-patriates from a variety of backgrounds. It is unlikely that it is an entirely Caldari population and influences from other cultures should be expected. That’s not to say that a Caldari-led population is beyond revolt. Recent history has shown us otherwise.
With regard to population, given that most space stations have a resident population in the millions, and taking into account the rapid expansion of planetary colonies and the deployment technologies used shows us that the settlement and relocation of 250,000 individuals is trivial with modern technologies.
It is sad to see planetary populations given so little regard as in Seriphyn Inhonores’ comment. It is clear he considers entire planetary populations as sheep to be herded from one place to another. Whether colonists and planetary settlers are all effectively evacuated at the whim of Capsuleer power-plays is a matter for further discussion. Many frontiersmen and colonists, especially those on temperate worlds, would be reluctant to be “evacuated” from their homes, irrespective of the forces that claim to rule the heavens above.