Kyrgyzstan authorities have pronounced a state of emergency following clashes around a gold ore mine between protesters and police over Centerra Gold’s mine in the north of the country. The violence left over 50 people injured.
“Doctors have provided medical care to 55 people injured in
the Dzhety-Oguz district of the Issyk-Kul region during the
events over the Kumtor gold mine,” a Kyrgyz Health Ministry
spokesman told Interfax on Friday.
Those injured in northern Kyrgyzstan include 13 law enforcement
personnel, five of whom were admitted to the Issyk-Kul regional
hospital. Three of them sustained
injuries of medium gravity, the ministry spokesman said.
Police used tear gas and stun grenades in clashes with villagers
who tried to seize a power station feeding the mine and cut power
supplies, following several days of protests.
The mine belongs to Toronto-listed Centerra Gold and is
Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold deposit. The protests started Tuesday
afternoon when hundreds of villagers had
blocked the road to Kumtor, threatening to move on the mine if
the government did not tear up its agreement with the
company.
Centerra Gold received an environmental claim from the
Kyrgyzstan Environmental Protection and Forestry for $315 million
for alleged environmental damage. Centerra has said it is
studying the claims, but believe they are “exaggerated or
without merit” and that the “Kumtor project complies with
Kyrgyz Republic laws on environmental, safety and health
standards.”
Centerra’s shares have dropped 33 percent in Toronto this year
after the Kyrgyz parliament decided to renegotiate the Kumor mine
contracts, which stoked fear it could shut down.
The villagers put forward several demands to Centerra Gold which
included building roads and a kindergarten, providing long-term
loans, offering more jobs and buying equipment for local
hospitals.
On Thursday night protesters took over an electricity
substation feeding the mine and forced its operators to cut off
power.
Police on Friday cleared away demonstrators who had been blocking
the road to Kumtor and arrested 92 people, according to Prime
Minister Zhantoro Satybaldiyev.
This article originally appeared on: RT