Mining
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Coal mining
Individual Documents
| Title: | | SAVE MONG KOK FROM COAL |
| Date of publication: | | July 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "Only 40 kms north of the Thai border
in the mountains of eastern Shan State,
Thai investors are poised to begin
mining and burning large reserves
of coal at Mong Kok. Ihis
project — which will ravage a
pristine valley and poison
the Kok River, impacting
countless Shan and northern
Thai communities downstream
- must be stopped immediately.
The Italian-Thai Power Company has entered into
agreements with the Burmese military regime to
develop an open-pit coal mine and power plant at
Mong Kok in eastern Shan State, to export both
coal and power to Thailand.
Home to over a thousand Shan, Lahu and Akha farmers,
Mong Kok lies in a conflict zone, where troops of the
Burmese junta clash regularly with ethnic resistance
forces, and commit systematic abuses against the local
peoples. The regime has poured troops into the area to
secure the mining site. Villagers have been forced to
sell their farmlands for a pittance, and are being forced
into a resettlement site directly adjacent to the mining
area. Many have fled to the Thai border.
Conducted in secrecy and with armed intimidation, this
project blatantly contradicts any standards of responsible
investment. But if Thai investors think the project's
impacts are going to stay safely outside their borders,
they should think again. Hundreds of coal trucks a day
and huge new power pylons will be blighting the scenic
Chiang Rai landscape, while the mine and power plant
will be flushing poisons into the Kok River - harming
an ecosystem that sustains countless communities
downstream in Thailand, and threatening the lucrative
tourist trade along with it..." |
| Author/creator: | | Hark Mong Kok |
| Language: | | English, Shan, Burmese, Thai |
| Source/publisher: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/save_mong_kok_from_coal_eng.pdf-red.pdf |
| Format/size: | | pdf (English - OBL version-2.6MB, original, 3.12MB; Shan - OBL version, 2.8MB, original, 3.34MB; Burmese - OBL version, 2.8MB, original, 3.37MB; Thai, OBL version, 2.7MB, original, 3.29MB |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/save_mong_kok_from_coal_shan.pdf-red.pdf
http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/save_mong_kok_from_coal_burmese.pdf-red.pdf
http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/save_mong_kok_from_coal_thai.pdf-red.pdf
http://shansapawa.org/images/stories/publication/save_mong_kok_from_coal_eng.pdf
http://shansapawa.org/images/stories/publication/save_mong_kok_from_coal_shan.pdf
http://shansapawa.org/images/stories/publication/save_mong_kok_from_coal_burmese.pdf
http://shansapawa.org/images/stories/publication/save_mong_kok_from_coal_thai.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 August 2011 |
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| Title: | | Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma’s largest coal project at Tigyit |
| Date of publication: | | January 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | Summary:
"• Although Burma is rich in energy resources, the ruling military regime exports those
resources, leaving people with chronic energy shortages. The exploitation of natural
resources, including through mining, has caused severe environmental and social
impacts on local communities as companies that invest in these projects have no
accountability to affected communities.
• There are over 16 large-scale coal deposits in Burma, with total coal resources of over
270 Million tons (Mt). Tigyit is Burma’s biggest open pit coal mine, producing nearly
2,000 tons of coal every day.
• The Tigyit coal mine and coal-fi red power plant are located just 13 miles from Burma’s
famous Inle Lake, a heritage site of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Water
polluted by the mine and waste from the power plant fl ow into the Lake via the Balu
Creek but no study of the impact of the project on the Lake has been made public.
• Coal from the mine is transported to Burma’s only operating coal-fi red power plant in
Tigyit. The plant uses 640,000 tons of coal per year to produce 600 Gigawatts of power
with a capacity of 120 Megawatts. 100-150 tons of toxic fl y ash waste is generated per
day. The majority of power from the plant is slated for use at an iron mining factory that
will be operated by Russian and Italian companies.
• Implementation of the mine and power plant began in 2002 by the China National
Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC) and the Burmese companies Eden Group and
Shan Yoma Nagar.
• Two nearby villages of Lai Khar and Taung Pola were forced to relocate for the project
and over 500 acres of farmlands have been confi scated. Farming families facing eviction
and loss of lands are going hungry and have turned to cutting down trees to sell for
fi rewood or migrated in order to survive. Explosions from the mine have destroyed
local pagodas.
• Air and water pollution is threatening the agriculture and health of nearly 12,000 people
that live within a fi ve mile radius of the project who may eventually have to move out.
Currently 50% of the local population is suffering from skin rashes.
• The Pa-Oh Youth Organization and Kyoju Action Network have been monitoring
the project since February 2010 and urges the companies and government to suspend
operations pending full environment, social and health impact assessments. The
organization also urges local communities not to sign documents without understanding
them and to oppose corruption and exploitation which harms the communities’
livelihoods and natural resources." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Pa-Oh Youth Organization (PYO), The Kyoju Action Network (KAN) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (2.3MB - English; 2.2MB - Burmese; 2.3MB - Thai)) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/PoisonClouds(bu).pdf (Burmese)
http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/PoisonClouds(th).pdf (Thai) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 02 February 2011 |
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