Mining in Maw Lu Mountain Range Effects Htee Sei Baw Villagers, Karen State

Thursday, September 23, 2011

Pollution problems associated with antimony mining have started to cause social unrest in widely separated areas of Karen State, with contamination issues now coming to light on a tributary of the Bilin River.

Antimony mining has been going on for the last 5 years in the upstream areas of the Lay Kra Stream, approximately 40 kilometers south of Papun. The area is in the Maw Lu Mountain Range on the border of Mutraw and Doo Tha Htoo districts. To the north and east the Maw Lu Range forms part of the watershed of the Yunzalin River.

According to villagers from the area short term mining concessions had been given to different individuals and  small companies, but on February 27 2011, another much larger mining company called “Saw La Win Company” was given permission by the cash strapped KNU to also mine antimony in this area. Mining activities have greatly increased in scale in 2011, with a parallel increase in the amount of pollution being generated.

Observation and record keeping by the villagers shows that 79 cows and 11 buffalos from 49 households have died since the mines opened which they believe is a result of the pollution.  Moreover, 251 acres of farmland owned by 35 families has shown a decrease in rice production and a visible decrease in the health of the rice plants. As they have done in the past the farms used the plentiful water from the river to irrigate their fields. The same acreage of farmland used to produce 10,760 baskets of rice but since 2010, this has decreased to 7650 baskets. 

The Htee Sei Baw village leaders and villagers tried to figure out the causes of these problems and realized that the toxic waste and pollution from the mines was the likely source of their troubles. 

Since mining resumed villagers observed fish with wounds on different parts of their bodies and have witnessed a marked decrease in the variety of fish and frog species in the area.  The villagers feel it is now unsafe to drink the water or to eat the fish from the river. 

In July 2011, 120 villagers from Htee Sei Baw village met with the mining company and requested them not to dump their waste water into the river.  In response to this, the local officials temporarily stopped the mining operations. 

However, in August the company was allowed to resume their mining operations. The company did build small tailing dams in an effort to prevent toxic waste water from flowing into the river. However, these makeshift dams were built using wood and bamboo and by pilling up soil and sand bags and were clearly completely inadequate for the purpose of permanently containing the mine tailings.  Thus, when the rains came and the water in the river increased, the dams collapsed and the toxic waste water stored in them flowed directly into the river again.

Currently, local leaders do not allow villagers from Htee Sei Baw and Hsa Ka (another nearby village), to use the Htee Sei Baw River anymore.  Instead, the villagers have had to dig a well and are now forced to rely on it for their drinking water.  The leaders have promised that they will get water from other places by installing a system of pipes but as yet no further action has been taken. Thuleikawwei