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RFA: Sichuan Cancer Village Protests Environmental Pollution from Landfill Waste Management Site

Radio Free Asia carried an article which reported that over one hundred villagers from the village of Jin Guiba in Sichuan Province went to the nearby municipal office in Langzhong City to demand that the city solve the water and environmental problems that a landfill waste management site located close to the village had caused. The pictures and the video taken at the scene showed that villagers held banners during the protest. The police used batons to beat the protesters. Some of the protesters claimed that the police used pepper spray and a number of villagers were injured.

According to the report, the landfill waste site was built in 2003. The waste water was released directly into the Jialing River. The untreated waste itself was buried; at night it emitted an intolerable smell. The villagers complained that there are only just over 1,000 people in the village. Over 20 people of them have been stricken with cancer or heart disease and the people cannot grow anything in the field allocated for farming. The villagers appealed but the government did not send a representative to talk to them. However, people were told to abide by the law and were warned not to believe or to spread any rumors. The article noted that the authorities agreed to stop dumping waste at the site and to launch a waste site clean-up process.

Source: Radio Free Asia, July 31, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/huanjing/xl2-07312016110908.html