Loei villagers to rally at SET over mine
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A group of 50 villagers from Loei will rally at the Stock Exchange of Thailand today to protest against a gold-digging company's attempt to open another mine.
“The fact is local people were not allowed to join the public hearing that was held on September 8,” Jatuphat Boonphattararaksa, a coordinator of the student activist Dao Din group, said yesterday.
“We were blocked by 700 police,” he said.
The group would inform the shareholders of Tongkah Harbour, the parent of Tungkum Co, that the public hearing for the new gold mining lease was not as smooth as the company had reported to the SET.
The hearing was part of the environmental and health impact assessment (EHIA) required by the Constitution for a project that might be harmful to the environment and people’s health.
The company must conduct the EHIA to seek an operating permit for the new mine.
The September public hearing was held to gather opinions and concerns from the surrounding community. Some local people were allowed to join but a group of 600 members of the Khon Rak Ban Kerd group that opposed the project was blocked.
The company received a licence in 1991 to search for gold on more than 270,000 rai of land in Loei. The company has engaged in actual gold mining on more than 1,300 rai. It was ordered by the Industry Ministry to suspend its activities as the mine’s tailing pond needed maintenance.
However, managing director Bundit Sangsaree-thamm has said the company plans to end gold extraction in Loei within five years and move to Laos because of the strong resistance from local people and its heavy financial burden. There is also no guarantee that the amount of ore remaining in this site would be enough to justify significant further investment.
