15:54, 09 сентября 2021, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Gulmira Makanbai kyzy
Residents of Terek-Sai village in Chatkal district of Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan held a rally against Kyrgyz-Turkish gold mining company Eti Bakir Tereksay LLC on September 8. Local residents told 24.kg news agency.
According to them, the activities of the enterprise pollute the air and cause illnesses in their children.
«My child got asthma because of the dust. I was told that the disease was provoked by an environmental factor, it worsened in three months. Doctors themselves are shocked at how rapidly the disease is developing. It started with an allergic cough three months ago and has already developed into asthma. Doctors are sure that the cause is bad ecology,» one of the protesters said.
The rally participants noted that children constantly get ill in the village. They are prescribed antibiotics for cough, but this does not help.
«We have gathered for the sake of children. Nobody hears us. We no longer know how to be treated. My daughter has been sick for the second month already. Previously, children had no health problems. Eti Bakir Tereksay company came and began to cut trees, pollute the air. We no longer know where to turn,» another participant of the protest told.
Eti Bakir Tereksay LLC, a joint venture of Kyrgyzaltyn (25 percent) and a Turkish company Eti Bakir (75 percent), won a tender for the development of Terek, Terekkan and Perevalnoye gold deposits in 2015.
Activities of the enterprises are accompanied by provocations and disagreements from the very beginning. In 2018, a conflict with the participation of local residents occurred on the territory of Eti Bakir Tereksay enterprise.
In June, it was reported that 62 households in Terek-Sai village would be resettled to another place before the onset of winter, as their land plots are in the licensed area of Eti Bakyr Tereksay LLC.