Fast probe sought into gold firm
A group of residents from Phitsanulok province yesterday filed a petition to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha with a demand to speed up a probe into the alleged unusual practices of gold mining company Akara Resources.
Arom Khamjing, the Network of Gold and Natural Resources Social Reform’s coordinator, said the prime minister should follow up on the investigation by various agencies, including the Department of Special Investigation and the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), regarding the company’s actions which might have violated the law.
“We have not made any complaint to the company. Our mission today is we want Prime Minister Prayut to follow up the cases against the company, where we see no progress at all,” she said.
The locals filed a complaint with the Department of Special Investigation in 2015, demanding it probe Akara Resources company, which they accused of illegally expanding its mining territory into a nonapproved area, and taking receipt of an illegal land rights possession document.
They also want the company to pay compensation to state agencies related to loss of natural resources, including gold, from illegal mining in the non-approved area.
They also filed a complaint to the NCCC in 2014, alleging a former politician tried to help the company improperly by issuing a land document and granting it the right to explore for gold in Noen Maprang district, instead of granting the land rights to a local who was resident there for a long time.
She said the company had been granted a mining licence in the district covering 300,000 rai, which is now occupied by 60,000 families living in a deteriorated forest zone with no land rights document.
The group, whose interests the activists represent, worry they might be forced to move if mining activities restart.
The government in May ordered officials to stop renewing and issuing licences for gold ore exploration and gold mining following public concerns on health and environment issues.
Australia-based Kingsgate Consolidated, parent company of Akara Resources, earlier this month said it had submitted the case to international arbitration as the two sides had failed to reach a solution after the company was ordered by the government to stop mining operations in January 2016.
Kingsgate said the order flouted the Thailand-Australia Free-Trade Agreement, caused the company lost earnings, and was unfair.
However, it said it was willing to enter talks any time during the arbitration process.
The order to stop mining from January 2016 until further notice followed complaints by villagers about environmental and health impacts.
The order issued under Section 44 of the interim charter also stipulated that mining companies repair any environmental damage they had caused. Ms Arom said the group will file a petition to the Central Administrative Court if the Ministry of Industry agrees enter arbitration.