Coalmine has no impact, says natural resources minister
Burma’s Minister of Natural Resources and
Environmental Conservation Ohn Win told parliament on Wednesday that a
controversial coalmining project in Mong Kung Township, southern Shan State,
has had no negative impact upon the environment.
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| U Ohn Win, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (left) and Sai Seng Murng, an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) representing Mong Kung Township (right). |
His comments will undoubtedly be
welcomed by the Pyae Aung Hein and Hein Mitter companies, which have recommenced
operations recently at the coal mine in Mong Kung, Loilem District, despite an
agreement to move out of the area by May
13.
The firms had appeared to cave in to public pressure
after more than 4,000 Mong Kung’s residents
staged a protest on April 11 against
the coalmine operations.
Sai Seng Murng, an MP from
the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) representing Mong Kung
Township, said that he had raised questions about the matter with the union
minister in the Lower House, asking firstly, why the government did not listen
to the grievances of local people before approving the coalmine; secondly, what
the government intended to do about the issue; and thirdly, who would take
responsibility for the inevitable destruction caused by the mining operations.
“Union Minister U Ohn
Win replied that the coalmine operations would not cause any impact,” the SNLD lawmaker
told Shan Herald on Thursday. “Minister U Ohn Win also said that he had
received documents from the Shan State government, saying that they agreed to the
project, and that he had reviewed the matter himself, and supported that
coalmine contracts.
“However, the minister
said that as the local population had protested the project, the government had
suspended operations.”
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| Coal mining site in Mong Kung Township, Loilem district, southern Shan State. |
The Pyae
Aung Hein and Hein Mitter mining companies had been granted concessions by the
central government to initiate their coalmine operation in Mong Kung Township
in 2014. Although the projects were initially suspended due to local
opposition, they restarted operations again in January this year.
On February 25, more
than 700 people in Mong Kung, including youths, the elderly, monks and
politicians, held a meeting to discuss the coal mine issue. After the meeting,
580 people signed a petition to close down the coalmine.
Locals
say that when the mine reopened, the firms had employed soldiers from the
Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) to guard their
operations.
“Now
they have erected fences that have warnings written in both Shan and Burmese
languages, saying: “Outsiders may not enter,” Sao Ekka Sina, a Buddhist monk
who was one of the demonstration organizers, told Shan Herald on May 15.
By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: Environment, Human Rights, News
