Myanmar: Letpadaung villagers briefly detained after confronting Wanbao over flood responsibility
"Letpadaung Villagers Briefly Detained After Flood Confrontation", 4 Aug 2015
Seven people were temporarily detained by the authorities in Letpadaung...for demanding Chinese mining company Wanbao take responsibility for the inundation of their villages during recent flooding.
Thousands of villagers...left their homes...after their homes were swamped by the floodwaters...Salingyi Township residents have claimed that the construction of large dirt embankments around the perimeter of the...Letpadaung copper mining project exacerbated floods in the area, leading to the destruction of their homes and crops. Anti-mine activists said that they approached a vehicle carrying Wanbao managers...and told them that the company needed to take responsibility for flooding in the area, dismantle some of the embankments to lower the water level and compensate villagers for destroyed crops. “When we stopped them, and raised our demands, they told us to come to their office—but instead we were taken to the Salingyi police station...” said...one of the seven detained villagers. All seven were released that evening...
Wanbao claimed...that the detained villagers had provoked a confrontation, preventing plans to distribute relief aid to flood-affected communities around Letpadaung. “...[W]hen Wanbao employees carried packed rice and drinking water to villagers who were anxious for aid, they were stopped by a handful of extremists…to protest our Letpadaung copper project with political motivations,” the company said...“Because of the blockade, we had to withdraw and leave all of the food we cooked and also the drinking water...” Villagers denied that they had tried to block the distribution of aid, insisting that they were only seeking to discuss the embankments and have the Wanbao employees admit the mine’s culpability in the destruction of homes and crops.