Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma’s Largest Coal Mine Project at Tigyit

By Pa-O Youth Organization and Kyoju Action Network • January 20, 2011

A newly released report of Pa-O Youth Organization has documented the process and impacts of Tigyit Coal Project, Burma’s largest open cast coal mine project.

The report introduces the concept of coal mining at early part followed by detail facts about Tigyi Coal Project. It then explains the on-going human rights abuses and breach of national laws as the project was being implemented and how the area is effected by the mining environmentally threatening careers and lives of the residents.

The report exposes how up to two thousand tons of lignite, the most polluting type of coal, are being extracted per day from a massive open cast mine at Tigyit village. The coal is burned at the nearby power plant which produces 100-150 tons of toxic fly ash daily.

Issues brought up in the report include forced relocation, land confiscation, impact of electrified conveyor, threat to the farming land, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, and cultural distraction. The report has also suggested the residents to use their own voices to stop the mining project giving an example of a successful action against coal-fired thermal power plant of Golden Triangle Hydro Electric Power Pte Ltd in Shan State.

Download the report in English, Burmese, and Thai.

Tags: Burmese, Ethnic Nationalities, Human Rights, Pa-O Youth Organization, Shan State, SPDC, Thai, Tigyit Coal Project

This post is in: Business and Human Rights, Environmental and Economic Justice

Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma’s Largest Coal Mine Project at Tigyit

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