BISHKEK (TCA) — Dozens of people have been injured in clashes between local residents and workers from a Chinese company at a gold mine in Kyrgyzstan’s Naryn province.
About 500 local residents gathered near the mine on August 5 and entered the construction site of a new industrial facility operated by China’s Jhong Ji Mining, where they brawled with Chinese workers and seized several trucks belonging to the company, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported.
The Kyrgyz Health Ministry said on August 6 that 20 Chinese workers had been hospitalized with different injuries after the conflict.
Several locals also sustained injuries, according to the residents, who remain at the site demanding that the Chinese company leave the mining area.
Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov and Interior Minister Kashkar Junushaliev have arrived at the site and have called on the local residents to disperse.
However, the residents said they will start removing the company’s equipment from the area themselves if the authorities do not do so.
The conflict has been brewing since July after locals blamed the Chinese company for the mass death of livestock, saying the mining firm has contaminated the local environment. (See The Times of Central Asia article entitled “Kyrgyzstan: Conflicts of local population with mining companies continue”.)
Authorities tested soil samples and said they had not found any chemicals or high levels of radiation.
Tensions remain, however, and two local residents ended up in hospital after they fought with Chinese workers.
That sparked the August 5 clashes and the subsequent protests.
On August 6, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Mukhammedkaly Abylgaziev held a meeting on the situation at the Solton-Sary field, 24.kg news agency reported.
“Incidents between local residents and foreign workers should not cause suspension or stop operation of the company. We are all aware of the current problems in the mining industry, and are working to radically change the situation. I deal closely with this issue and keep everything under personal control,” said Abylgaziev. “The problems that exist in the field of the mining industry today have accumulated over the years and require serious rethinking and decisive actions. I want to stress: if investors violate the requirements and rights of our citizens, we will take appropriate measures against them. But everything should be within the law. If people demand to close the enterprises because of each such incident, then all investors will turn away from us. The actions of individuals who want to take advantage of this incident instantly jeopardize what we have achieved through great efforts.”
The prime minister warned that the situation should not be transformed into a political issue and all disputes should be resolved in a legal framework.
Jhong Ji Ming obtained a license to develop the Solton-Sary gold mine in 2012.
Experts estimate that the site has some 11 tons of gold.
