Residents in Waingmaw township, Kachin state are urgently demanding a cessation of gold mining activities in the Dabat stream.
A resident said told KNG, “The people who live here, want to stop gold mining. Personally I want no mining to happen at all. I think it’s best to keep things the way they are and benefit from nature .The stream is dirty now, and I wish they would stop mining. But some people in charge are making them mine for gold, so we want to speak up against it, but we can’t.”
A worried resident informed KNG that the stream water, which serves as the primary source of drinking water, has turned turbid as a result of gold mining activities, rendering it unsuitable for both consumption and agricultural purposes.
In the past few years, the local residents living near the Dabat stream have utilized bamboo rafts to navigate the stream and construct their homes. However, the ongoing gold mining activities have significantly disrupted their livelihoods as gold rafts and ropes are now scattered across the stream and its sandbars, posing considerable obstacles and making navigation exceedingly difficult.
He further expressed his concerns to KNG regarding the potential long-term consequences of gold mining in the region. “In the future, we won’t be able to continue agriculture like before. The use of mercury in gold mining has made it risky to eat fish. When sand accumulates in our fields, it becomes impossible to grow crops.
The natural pathways are blocked, and the water channels have been altered, which will eventually lead to flooding in our village.”
The Dabat stream originates from the Chinese border and meanders its way into Talawgyi, Waingmaw Township. This vital waterway serves as a lifeline for approximately 30 villages along its course, with a collective population of around
10,000. These communities heavily rely on the stream for their agricultural activities, which form the primary source of their livelihoods.
The gold mining site is situated a mere mile away from the village, and according to local accounts, gold extraction operations have been ongoing there since May 2022. Presently, the site is equipped with two large machines and hosts a fleet of 50 gold mining rafts.
