Bengkulu to launch sweeping operation against illegal miners

The provincial administration of Bengkulu will launch a sweeping operation against illegal miners in the province?s Kerinci national forest conservation area which have showed a continued increase in number in recent years, Antara reported on Monday.

"The number of the illegal miners in the protected forests continue to increase from time to time. This has caused a serious damage in the forest conservation area," the chairman of the province?s mining office, Amiruddin MS told the news agency on Sunday.

According to him the number of the gold illegal miners in the Lembong Landai protected forest formerly part of the concession area of gold mining company PT Lusang Mining reached more than 12,000 people. In nearby Ulu Ketenong, Lebong Tandai, Rejang Lebong regency, the number of illegal miners have reached 40 people.

He, however, said that the sweeping operation would be first launched against the operation of the illegal miners in the Ulu Ketenong because the condition of the forest in the area had been seriously damaged. The illegal miners who used mercury in their gold prospecting activities have also caused a serious pollution in the Ketenong river which is widely used by the local people for bathing, washing and