Excessive gold mining by Chinese entrepreneurs in Shingbwiyang town, Danai Township, Kachin State has reportedly destroyed many acres of land relied on by locals, making it difficult for wild animals to find grazing areas.
Locals reported that the area where the Chinese entrepreneurs are working is an uninhabited forest area where there are streams and rivers that they have relied on to find food for their livelihoods.
A woman from Tarung village said, “The foraging area for local people has shrunk. The entrepreneurs who work in the gold mining blocks act as if they own the place. But their activities have deprived local residents of the opportunity to forage for fish, hunt and forage for medicinal herbs as they used to do to make a living.”
The creeks where excessive gold mining is taking place are Sapsai Creek, Shingnip Creek, and Nhpraw Creek, which flows into Tarung Creek. According to local residents, they rely on these creeks for their livelihood.
Locals claim that Chinese entrepreneurs have been mining gold mainly in the Tarung village area, destroying about 400 hectares of land.
The excessive gold mining has decimated the grazing lands and made life difficult for the local people, they added.
“It is their main source of income. Their livelihood depends on it. They have no other vocational skills. They have relied on what they can do, and now they are gone because there is narrower foraging area. They now have to work for other people on daily wages,” said a resident of Shingbwiyang.
Most residents of Shingbwiyang forage for food sources such as fish, frogs and bamboo shoots, look for medicinal herbs and engage in slash-and-burn agriculture to make a living. As a result of gold mining, the local people are now struggling to make a living.
Gold mining in the area using large machinery began in 2020 and has been operating on a larger scale since 2021, according to local residents.
When the large-scale gold mining projects began, local residents and community elders came together and protested several times to stop Chinese businessmen from mining gold in the creeks and to prevent more Chinese companies from entering the area, but nothing came of it.
Sent by NMG.