The four persons held in Selenge aimag on Sunday for
shooting at equipment belonging to Puraam gold mine were brought to Ulaanbaatar
on Wednesday for further investigation. The mine in Tunkhel village is most
likely owned by Chinese. The four arrested people include the head of the Ongi River
movement. The charges against them are damaging property and using firearms.

We talked to J.Nyamdavaa, Head of another NGO, Protect the Security
of Mongolia, which is allied with the Ongi River movement.

The four detained
persons are said to belong to your NGO. Why did they shoot at mining equipment
at two places?
Yes, before shooting at Puraam’s equipment they fired shots at Boroo Gold’s
machinery. That company did not call the police. It was our movement’s notice to
Boroo Gold to stop illegal mining in river source areas. We had earlier written
to them but they did not reply, so we had to take this step.

Where is this Boroo Gold
mine?
Puraam and Boroo Gold have license over 168 sq hectare square in Noyon Uul of
Mandal soum in Selenge aimag.  The
company has built a 50-km paved road to transport the ore.

What did the company’s
security people and workers do when your people started to shoot?
They did not rake any action. Two members shot at machinery but the officials
are silent still. We think they do not wish to draw public attention to their
illegal mining plans. After the shooting, the Canadian President of the company
signed an agreement to build a maternity clinic.

Did you demand money
on the morning of the day of shooting?
Certainly not. We only want enforcement of the law for environmental protection.
We have written to the Government and have not received a reply in two months. The
Director of the company has said they will conduct mining for seven years.

Why did you use firearms?
Could you not protest in a peaceful way?
People have criticized our choice but, tell me, what could we hope to
achieve through peaceful means like meetings and demonstrations in streets?

But shooting is an
illegal form of protest and could have resulted in casualties.
The country’s land has been much damaged by gold miners’ greed and abuse of
power. Water has been contaminated, plants and animals have suffered. Our
struggle is to protect our environment and land. If the Government does not
take measures we shall continue to fight.
Also I can tell you our men did not escape to the mountains and the police did
not surround the area before reaching them. I cannot reveal more now, but we shall
have more to say as investigations proceed.