Workers of the Kyrgyz-Turkish gold mining company Eti Bakyr Tereksai went on a strike. Local residents told 24.kg news agency.
According to them, the workers sent a written appeal to the head of Chatkal district Altynbek Senirbaev and the head of the rural administration Bolot Ashyrbaev.
In the letter, workers demand to pay compensation to local residents and workers due to the fact that gold mining is accompanied by thick dust, as well as to mine gold using the underground method.
The workers also expressed their dissatisfaction with the meals provided at the plant. According to them, it is different for Kyrgyz and Turkish workers. The list of demands also includes an increase in salaries and the dismissal of several executives who abuse their position.
On December 12, villagers blocked the road to the head office and plant of Eti Bakyr Tereksai.
The company explained that three drivers of the company’s dump trucks violated the traffic rules on December 12 in the morning on the road to Terekkan open pit. Management of Eti Bakyr Tereksai admonished them.
This, as the press service of the company emphasizes, caused discontent among the workers, and the management asked the drivers of the company, who violated the traffic rules, to give them the trucks keys.
«The workers who violated the rules began to gather other residents, and after 2 p.m. on the same day the road leading to the head office and the plant of the company was blocked. About 50 people stopped traffic and did not allow employees to get to their workplaces,» Eti Bakyr Tereksai said.
On the morning of December 13, the management of the enterprise met with representatives of Chatkal district administration, Terek-Sai rural district and law enforcement agencies. The parties discussed ways to resolve the current situation.
The press service of Eti Bakyr Tereksai did not comment to 24.kg news agency on the workers’ written appeal regarding meals, wages and compensation.
Eti Bakyr Tereksai LLC, a joint venture of Kyrgyzaltyn (25 percent) and the Turkish company Eti Bakyr (75 percent), won a tender in 2015 for the development of Terek, Terekkan and Perevalnoye gold deposits.
The company’s activities have been accompanied by provocations and disagreements since the very beginning. In 2018, a conflict with the participation of local residents took place on the territory of Eti Bakyr Tereksai company.
The reason for the conflict is that 62 households on Myrzabaev St. in Terek Sai village fell under the license area of Eti Bakyr Tereksai LLC. In this regard, it was decided to relocate the residents to another place. Eti Bakyr Tereksai reported that the purchase of land plots and houses would be based on the calculations of an independent evaluation commission. However, the locals do not want to leave their land.
