A Mondulkiri provincial environment officer inspects an unauthorised gold mining operation after a man was killed in a landslide in early April. Environment department
The Department of Environment in Mondulkiri province has issued an appeal to citizens who are illegally mining for gold — most of them small-scale, family operations — within protected natural areas to immediately stop their activities, in order to avoid life-threatening risks and legal consequences.
The appeal was made as part of an April 20 public statement which clarified the department's legal actions against forest and mining offenses within protected areas. It came in response to criticism suggesting that legal action is only being taken against small-scale local people.
The department stated that it has been actively cracking down on unauthorised gold mining operations. On April 12, it raided several illegal mining sites, arresting 20 suspects and bringing them to the provincial environment office for questioning and to prepare legal case files to send to the Mondulkiri Provincial Court.
The department is urging all citizens currently engaging in illegal family-run gold mining in protected areas to immediately stop all such activities and report to the Department of Environment via phone number 090 523 456, in order to help curb the exploitation of mineral resources — which are a national asset — and to prevent serious environmental and social impacts, including further risk to human lives.
Regarding illegal logging and timber transport offenses, the department said it had already conducted three investigations at locations where suspects were reported to have illegally entered and cut trees. Two suspects were arrested and referred to the provincial court for prosecution.
In addition, the department has implemented strict measures for station officials to monitor and suppress all forms of natural resource crimes regularly within protected areas.
The department also noted that it conducts regular inspections of the operations of all companies which are legally conducting mineral exploration within the protected areas, to ensure their compliance with environmental protection agreements. Any companies found in violation are subject to appropriate action.
The department insisted that “all of these actions reflect fair and proper enforcement of the law, and contradict accusations of unfair treatment”.
Earlier in April, two of nine residents from Khtong village, in Mondulkiri province’s Sre Chhouk commune, in Keo Seima district, were trapped in a landslide while digging for gold along a creek during the dry season. One was half-buried and successfully rescued, but the other could not be saved in time and lost his life.
