Kyrgyzstan: in Kazarman, nothing gold can stay
BISHKEK (TCA) — Mining gold is a troublesome, though lucrative, business in Kyrgyzstan — which often faces opposition from locals in gold-mining areas, which, in turn, scares off foreign investors in gold projects. We are republishing this article on the issue by Nurjamal Djanibekova, originally published by Eurasianet: The language of gold-making spills easily from people’s mouths in Kazarman. Every other townsperson can talk with the best of them about crushing ores, leaching by cyanide and roasting. For a little over 30 years, this town in west-central Kyrgyzstan, home to a giant Soviet-built smelter, has been all about gold. Gripes about the perceived damage caused to the environment by the industry, however, are festering and have galvanized opposition to a new, privately owned gold-refining plant under development since 2016. A couple of times a month since the start of this year, residents have congregated on a square in Kazarman, home to around 12,000 people, in a show of a discontent with Makmal G.L Developing, the Chinese-backed company behind the project. The rallies have typically begun at 10 a.m. in front of the House of Culture building. After organizers set up a microphone and speakers, the town akim, or mayor, Tilek Idirisov, would open proceedings and then give way to others who wished to air their grievances. On February 7, Maksat Yasymov, a former worker at the town’s Makmalzoloto gold smelting plant, came forward to address the crowd, which huddled close around him in a circle under the rapidly falling snow. “We are not at fault here, but at the national level they are saying that an investor has come and that we are against him. We will welcome any investor with open arms if they are proposing something safe and environmentally sound that will provide people with work,” Yasymov declaimed with mounting fervor. “But for six months, these investors have shown us no documents, no feasibility studies. They are the ones at fault. They came here by corrupt means.” Listeners punctuated Yasymov’s delivery with cries of approval, while a stout police officer filmed the gathering on a mobile phone. The assembly concluded without incident and Idirisov, the mayor, assured those present that work on the new plant would be halted and people’s complaints relayed to officials higher up the chain. Murky present Neither promise was kept and so the next protest, on March 1, went less smoothly. Instead of meeting at the House of Culture, as usual, a group of several dozen descended directly on the plant. “People came of their own accord from all over the Toguz-Torou district,” Nuradil Tursunbekov, a member of the town council, told Eurasianet. “It said on the internet that they were brought here by bus, that there were drunk people. Maybe there were some like that, but we sent those people home straight away. People joined the meeting because nobody wants harmful industry here.” After a few hours, a group of rally attendants decided to check for themselves what work was actually going on...
