Mining

The Karen National Union (KNU) in Southern Burma has suspended a coalmine from operating in the Pawklo area, east of Dawei. The KNU stopped the mine after listening to the demands local villagers made to the political organisations district leaders. The KNU Mergui-Tavoy District 16th Congress that finished on the 19 October decided that the coal mine in Tha Nay…

Advocacy groups claim government’s mining decision derailing country’s democratic progress. The Molo Women Mining Watch Network (MWMWN) and the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) today strongly condemned the government of Burma’s decision to grant mining contracts inside Karenni State, an ongoing zone of conflict. The two advocacy groups said the decision highlighted how Burma’s reformist government, led by ex-general Thein…

Farmers have demanded compensation for their land confiscated and for losses of land to mining and a cement factory in Hlakar village track, in Hpa-an, Karen State. The Hlakar farmers held a meeting in the village on September 12 that decided to present their five-point demands through the Member of Parliament, Daw Nan Say Awa, from the Phalon Swaw Democratic…

A Rangoon based activist was jailed by the government for his role in organizing anti-government protests with farmers, over land confiscated to make way for a copper mine. Burma Campaign UK, a human rights advocacy group based in the United Kingdom, called on the British Government last week to pressure Burma’s government to repeal all repressive laws and release all…

The Karen National Union (KNU) and villagers from the upper Pawklo area of Southern Burma are in agreement that a Thai coalmine operating in Tha Nay Kler area, has to protect environment and make sure that local water sources are not polluted. The agreement was reached at a meeting on June 15 that was held in Ka Taw Ni village…

Along the muddy river bank hundreds of men pack down under small plastic sheets to avoid the direct sun and to take respite from the 38 degree heat. The men cram into the small bamboo shops beside the muddy river. The valley and river littered with generators and large hoses that the miners use in their hunt for gold. It…

Karen National Union officials in the Tenasserim Township, Southern Burma are concerned that a coalmine will pollute local waterways posing a health hazard to villagers in the area. Officials of the local branch of the Karen National Union (KNU) are concerned that a Thai company that left its coal mining operation without covering it up risks poisoning water sources used…

Villagers in Tenasserim Division want the local Karen National Union to revoke permission given to a coalmine that villagers claim is polluting their waterways and damaging their plantations. Paw Klo villagers, from east of Tavoy in Southern Burma, demand the Karen National Union (KNU) resolves the conflict between the coal mining company and the villagers and revoke their permission to…

Residents four villages in the Dawei area are concerned about the impact coal mining operations will have on their health and on the pollution of local waterways. Local sources said that the coalmining project, a joint venture of the East Star and Mayflower companies, now operating in the Dawei Township region has the potential to pollute waterways and damage health.…

Yesterday, a photo exhibition, ‘Resources Curse’ opened in Bahan Township, Rangoon. The exhibition, organized by the Green Heart Environment Network, draws attention to the contentious Latpaudang Copper Mining Project. U Soe Win Nyein, a graphic artist and an organizer of the exhibition told Karen News that the purpose of the exhibition was to make people more aware of the social…