"Residents Call For End to Mining Activities in Myanmar's Kachin State", 28 December 2018

Residents from two townships in northern Myanmar's Kachin state...demand that officials end to mining activities in their region, saying that the operations have polluted a key water source....

The residents of 22 villages located near mining sites in Chipwi and Pang War townships say they are now facing a drinking water shortage, and that they are fearful about using water from Chipwi creek because it makes their skin itchever when they come into contact with it.

...Villagers whose livelihoods depend on fishing say their incomes have taken a hit because consumers from neighboring China have rejected seafood from possibly toxic waters...

...Lum Zaung, secretary of the local conservation group Laung Pyi Khaung, said..."Used chemical packages are being dumped recklessly," he told RFA. "They are being transported carelessly, with the contents spilling out along the way. Animals ate them and died. The mining has resulted in less pasture land, and animal breeders have had to travel away from the area."

...Locals who work in Kachin's mines complain that they are paid less than their Chinese counterparts, Lum Zaung said.

Residents of villages in Chipwi and Pang War townships are now demanding that officials take action against the mining companies and force them to compensate villagers for the damage they have caused.