"Myanmar Protesters Force Sagaing Govt to Block Chinese Copper Mine", 30 September 2019

Sagaing Region’s government says it has scrapped permission for a Chinese company to do studies for a new mine after a series of protests by residents.

Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited, a subsidiary of Beijing-based Wanbao Mining Limited...had sought permission for preliminary ground inspections for another mine....

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Dr. Myint Naing, the chief minister of Sagaing Region, told The Irrawaddy: “We canceled it to conform with public opinion. We will report the decision to the Union government.”

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...[T]he protesters said they had been sending their complaints about the second mine to the Sagaing government, claiming it lacked any transparency.

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Prior to the authorities’ latest announcement, the protesters said they had heard from the regional government that Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited had already received the green light for a preliminary ground inspection.

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Parliamentarians said they had gathered signatures and would send them to the president, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Sagaing government and parliament and the Union minister of natural resources.

“We want the government to know residents oppose this project. I don’t want our region to face more mayhem. Letpadaung has shown us what to avoid,” said U Aung Soe, a Yinmabin Upper House parliamentarian.

The company had been due to invest between US$6 million and US$10 million in the inspection which is due to take about five years, covering more than 120 villages, 86 schools, 139 monasteries and affecting more than 80,000 residents.

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“Residents experienced many tragic and undemocratic experiences in the past, where they have to move out from their villages, and their friends and families were jailed, injured and even killed, so they don’t want to repeat this,” said U Ngwe Lin, a central committee member of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS).