Protest over Mineral Bill that ‘kills local communities’ rights’
ACTIVISTS have warned that the proposed Mineral Bill would severely violate human rights by allowing mining firms to drive people off their lands and give the state absolute power to manage mineral resources.
Yesterday, more than 80 people from six provinces – Phichit, Phitsanulok, Saraburi, Lop Buri, Phetchabun and Nong Bua Lamphu – went to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to protest against the bill.
They said the bill would benefit investors and totally ignore the rights of local people.
Wanpen Phromrangsan, who represented the group from Lop Buri, said the bill contained many articles that would end communal rights in the management of natural resources.
She said Article 29 would allow firms that own a mining concession to areas of land to legally evict the people from those areas.
“This article prohibits anyone except the concession owner to own the land in the concession area,” he said.
“This is the most terrible part of the bill, because the gold mine firms have already registered for gold mining concessions over more than one million rai (160,000 hectares) of people’s land, and the majority of those people do not have a land deed.”
She gave the example of Noen Maprang district in Phitsanulok, where she said an Australian gold mining company had asked for a concession for a 400,000-rai, an area covering land used by people including forests.
“Ninety per cent of the people do not have their own land deeds because they live on Agricultural Land Reform Office land. And if this bill is passed, those people will be forced to leave their land,” she said.
A representative for Phitsanulok protesters, Arom Khamjing, said another worry was Article 7, which she said indicated that the state had the authority to manage mineral resources alone.
“This article conflicts with human rights principles because it even states that people should be included in mineral resource management – but the state has the sole authority to manage it,” Arom said.
“The lesson from the Phichit gold mine taught us that people can only raise their voices in a public hearing forum, while the government and the enterprises have already rationed interests from the gold mine.”
She stressed that minerals were a national treasure and belonged to every person and the people must have right to manage them.
Wanpen said Articles 9 and 12 would violate people’s rights, including the right to social justice, by allowing mines to operate in any place, such as protected watershed forests, with the exception being security areas. And Article 8 would allow the government to conceal mining information, she claimed.
The NLA has approved the bill in principle.
NLA vice president Surachai Liengboonlertchai said the body would consider the group’s demands.
NHRC deputy secretary general Boongua Somnuk said the commission would look into the matter.
