Locals fight against Myanmar mine project

Experts say people in the area are suffering from economic, health and social losses, and in a protest on September 30, they accused the authorities of only protecting the interests of some local and Chinese companies.

The Latpantaung mine is expected to produce between 100,000 and 150,000 tonnes of copper every year, and more than 7,800 acres of land was reportedly seized from farmers for the project. 

The junta-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holding (UMEHL) and China’s Wenbao Copper Company are behind the project. 

Maung Maung Tint, project director of UMEHL, told the press on Wednesday that despite the protests, the project would not be shut down because it is beneficial to the country. 

After a Canadian company pulled out of the project in 2007, the Ministry of Mines handed it over to UMEHL in 2010, after which China North Industries Corp signed a contract with the government during Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s visit to Myanmar that year. The project is now 51 per cent owned by Wenbao, and it will bear all the costs. 

The project has been the subject of dispute for several months now after farmers staged protests, accusing the company of grabbing land and voicing fear of pollution. 

The dispute started two years ago when the locals accepted compensation for three years worth of income from the mining firm. At the time, they thought they were being compensated for the loss of crops that were destroyed to make way for the trucks. However, they later learned that the government had leased their land to the mining company for 60 years without telling them.