[Translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Is the scandal with the tailings dump in the Chatkal region testing the authorities? 27 May 2019

...Residents of the area said that local authorities, in collusion with relevant government agencies, are irrationally and ineffectively spending funds allocated by mining companies as sponsorship. They also added that they were concerned about cases of illegal mining in gold deposits and gross violations of environmental safety standards during the construction of tailings dumps. According to Chatkal residents, criminal cases on such facts are not completed, since interested high-ranking officials interfere in this process, and local corruption is already closely intertwined with the centre. Meanwhile, local authorities perceive these accusations as the opinion of envious people, and the district prosecutor said that the investigation into the criminal cases had not been completed yet...

...Recently, a commission of 4-5 people from the State Ecological and Technical Inspectorate came to us. Without meeting anyone, without communicating with the residents, trying not to be seen and leaving as quickly as possible, they inspected the tailings dump of the Chaarat company, which had already begun to collapse and was not working. It is not known what act they released. We went there and wanted to meet them, but they didn’t let us in. They diligently avoided us and left without even talking to the local population. And the fate of this tailings dump has not been decided yet. With the support of the authorities and on the basis of forged documents, they located this object near a river and a village. And the geomembrane they placed on top of the ground had already burst; it was practically out of order long before the work began...

...The tailings dump of the Kichi Chaarat company was built in gross violation of the Water Code of Kyrgyzstan. In addition, a cyanide method is expected to be used to extract gold. And this is very dangerous. There are springs under the tailings dump that was built there, and a river flows nearby. If this hazardous waste penetrates the soil, and from there it gets into underground and then surface waters, including the Chatkal River, this can lead to serious consequences”...