http://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/environmentalist-gunned-down-by-illegal-miners-in-peru/ very upsetting news about the death of a community activist who fought against illegal gold mining in Peru.
mercury and cyanide impacts of gold mining in Central Kalimantan
@ginococchiaro and their partners, @johanesjenito and Walhi friends and many others in the network work on these issues.
@timmillar, how is the situation in Myanmar? Please do share the updates, if any! It would be interesting to know about what is happening there.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/23/brazil-dam-collapse-mining-waste-reaches-ocean-rio-doce
terrible terrible ‘accidents’ !! wonder to what extent Environment Impact Assessment laws are able to foresee these kinds of disasters. Were these projects under any kind of monitoring by government ? What is the point of environment regulation if mining projects are allowed to become zones of intense risk to all life and property ?
@timmillar, @MauroFF, @Goonnan, @yeyinth would love to hear from you about the role of communities and affected people in changing the course of environment/infrastructure regulation and transforming it from a routine process into a creative tool for protecting communities from such disasters.
@preetivenkatram and @krithikadinesh just attended a meeting on a state government proposal to create a district mining foundation and a special fund so that mining revenues can benefit local communities. Can the fund be used to support compensations for loss of life, property, livelihoods and for litigation against dangerous mining practices? http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/metals-mining/Miners-to-pay-Rs-6000-crore-more-royalty-money-to-go-to-special-fund-for-poor-districts/articleshow/49086894.cms
In the remote areas of Central Kalimantan where all rain forest once stood still, illegal miners at the forefront of modern gold rush, tearing the earth to hunt the precious metal.
Hundreds of men using a high pressure hose to spray the sand before running it through a filter to find specks of gold, every day in the open pit of Kereng Pangi Sub-District, Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan.
Aside from the environmental damage, the workers there and in many similar places in Indonesia, risking the health of their communities and poisoning due to the use of mercury to extract gold illegally.
As you know, mercury can cause serious damage to the nerves and gold miners who worked for many years have symptoms of tremor and a persistent cough.