Defying orders from Lao officials, a Chinese-owned potash mining company hasn’t stopped operating near two massive sinkholes in central Laos, a Lao official, a worker and residents told Radio Free Asia.
On Dec. 4, a sinkhole measuring 20 meters (65 feet) wide and 10 meters (33 feet) deep opened up on farmland in Thakhaek district’s Pak Peng village in Khammouane province. On Dec. 21, another sinkhole — about half the size of the first — formed nearby.
Residents suspect the sinkholes are a result of excavation at a potash mine in neighboring Nong Bok district, operated by Sino-Agri International Potash Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Asia Potash International Investment (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., linked to entities directed by China’s governing State Council.
No one has been injured by the cave-ins, but villagers are anxious that more holes will appear.
Earlier this month, Lao authorities told the company to stop operations near the sinkholes.
But on Wednesday, an official with the government team investigating the matter told RFA Lao on condition of anonymity that Sino-Agri International “has never stopped operating near the sinkhole area.”
Residents, who also declined to be named due to security concerns, also confirmed to RFA that the potash mine “is still running,” and that they regularly hear operations underway near the sinkhole area.
Attempts by RFA to contact Sino-Agri International went unanswered.
An employee who wished to remain nameless said the company continues to work “both above and underground all the time,” adding that more workers are being hired.
No probe results yet
Meanwhile, after nearly two months, an investigation into the cause of the sinkholes wrapped up on Sunday, a government team member told RFA, but official results have yet to be released.
The team will hold another meeting next week to outline the investigation results, he said, noting that while the probe was initially expected to be completed by Jan. 21, there is no hard deadline.
On Monday, Lao Nation Radio reported that the investigation had concluded, but cited a statement from the investigating team that it said had failed to address whether Sino-Agri International caused the sinkholes.
The statement said that Lao government officials are working with a team from the company to conduct a seismic survey of the site “by the beginning of February.”
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Residents angered
The latest information about the investigation comes nearly two weeks after residents expressed frustration with the probe’s initial findings, which state media said suggested that the sinkholes were unrelated to the potash mine.
On Jan. 16, Lao media cited a team from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, experts from Lao National University, and technicians from Sino-Agri International in a report as saying that “the activities of the potash mine may not be the cause of the sinkholes,” but noted that the investigation was still underway.
Residents of Thakhek district were quick to dismiss the report.
“They [the city and provincial officials] are like that — they don’t want the villagers to know,“ said one resident at the time. ”But the truth is nothing like this has happened before ... The sinkholes are pretty close to their [the mine operator’s] drilling tunnel — no more than 150 meters (500 feet).”
‘We don’t know the real cause'
An official with the Ministry of Energy and Mines investigation team told RFA at the time that his group was working daily to find the cause of the sinkholes.
“As for the potash mine, we didn’t say it [the sinkholes] was related to the mine yet because we don’t know the real cause,” he said.
But other residents said that while Lao authorities had consulted with Sino-Agri International during the investigation, “they ignored our concerns.”
“It must be related to the mine since it happened while the tunnel was being drilled, and before exploration occurred,” another resident said. “Villagers can’t carry out a technical analysis, but according to our observation this is the first time something like this has happened [here] in decades.”
Translated by RFA Lao. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.