[Unofficial translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

"Tshopo: Eve Bazaiba orders the cessation of activities of a Chinese mining company operating without a permit in Basoko" 28 January 2022

On a working trip to the province of Tshopo for a few days, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Environment and Development, Eve Bazaiba, went to the Mungandjo sector of the Basoko territory on Wednesday 26 January 2022, where the Chinese company Xiang Jiang Mining is accused of polluting the waters of the Aruwimi River.

According to Eve Bazaiba, this Chinese company pollutes this tributary of the Congo River both upstream and downstream. In the mining perimeter of Bangelema Mungandjo alone, it uses 7 robotic dredgers. [...]

The dredges will be evacuated to Kisangani because the company does not have an operating permit.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, several grievances are charged against this Chinese company. Not only that it fraudulently exploits gold, but also that it had not carried out an environmental impact study, which is a prerequisite required by law 11/009 relating to the protection of the environment. [...]

Aside from fraudulent gold mining and river pollution, Chinese workers at Xiang Jiang Mining do not have residence permits or work permits, said the Deputy Prime Minister of the Environment and Development.