"Villagers in Laos worry large mining concession will disrupt their lives", 15 February 2023

Residents in southern Laos’ Attapeu province are concerned that more than one-fourth of the province has been granted to 10 companies in a concession that would allow them to mine for minerals.

People living within the 2,766 square-kilometer (1068 square-mile) concession told Radio Free Asia that a mining project on such a large scale will disrupt their lives and ruin the environment. Attapeu’s total size is 10,320 square kilometers.

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Vithaya Phommachanh, director of the Energy and Mines Department of Attapeu Province, announced the deal on Nov. 10, 2022, saying that the province gave permission to the 10 companies to engage in 15 separate mining projects in the designated area. Additionally, the province signed an MoU for two land studies for potential mines in a 1,000 hectare (3.86 square-mile) area in the province’s Phouvong district.

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Another resident of Phouvong district explained how mining has disrupted villagers' lives, saying “They cause road damage, traffic, noise, and they decrease residents’ farmland.” He also said that foreign developers hire local labor, but pay very low wages, including a Vietnamese company that pays only 60,000 kip (U.S. $3.58) per day.

An official of the Natural Resources and Environment Department of Attapeu Province responded to the villagers’ concerns, telling RFA that developers and the local government must approve environmental and social impact assessments before the concession can be awarded.

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