VietNamNet Bridge – Tay and Nung ethnic minority people in Nguyen Binh district of Cao Bang province were brave enough to say “no” to the gold mining project approved by the provincial authorities, in order to preserve every square meter of land and forests descended by their ancestors.

Faithful to the land and forests

In Bac Dai hamlet, Tam Kim commune of Nguyen Binh district, local residents all well know an unwritten village convention: people must not dig rice fields to look for gold, must not chop down trees and deforest, must not allow people to take land and forests for exploiting gold and precious timber.

The sacred village convention has helped local residents for the last many generations--preserve the land area and forests descended by their ancestors.

Since people try to protect the living environment, the land here has never betrayed people. The prosperity of the land can be seen in yellow rice fields, green corn fields; while rice and corns are always full at households.

All the things that local residents want is bountiful crops which help them lead comfortable lives, even though they know that there, just beneath the earth, which could be a big gold store which has existed for the last many years.

According to the people in Bac Dai hamlet, they have been told by the men of the last generation that there was much gold on the Ban Um – Pac Hao field. In the past, people once found out gold-made and bronze-made knives and sword, which were then hidden below some bamboo trees near Pac Hao field.

Most recently, the dugs on the Ban Um stream ate gold metal and when slaughtering the ducks, people could find gold dust inside the ducks.

However, local residents well know that none of them was the gold digger. They simply think that all the money, no matter how much it is, would leave people, while only the land will be staying with people for ever.

Nong Van Tuan and Nong Thi Lien, the old people in the hamlet, said that they have been living here since they were born. Therefore, they well know every rice fields, passage of streams, but they do not care about where the gold store could be located.

“When I was young, my parents told me not to dig the earth for seeking gold. They said those who violate the sacred village convention, will be expelled from the village,” Tuan said.

“We can still live well without gold”

In the period from 1994 to 1998, Bac Dai witnessed a lot of groups of people who came to look for gold. They dug the earth and went to every corner to look for gold. However, they had to leave when facing strong protests from local residents.

In early January 2009, Bac Dai received a thunder strike of information, that the Cao Bang provincial authorities have agreed to allow the Hanoi-based ASEAN International Technology Transfer Company lease 13 hectares of field land in Ban Um – Pac Hao to exploit gold. The company then promised to compensate local residents, create jobs to local residents and restore the initial status of the land after the exploitation.

However, the decision by the provincial authorities then faced the strong opposition from local presidents, who well understand that only rice fields and streams, not gold, can bring long term life to them.

To Dinh Hai, former Chair of Tam Kim Commune’s People’s Committee and Nong Van Tuyen, Bac Dai cell secretary, would be rather be dismissed than persuade people to give land for mining.

Nong Quang Huong, Head of Bac Dai hamlet, said that no one dug gold and no one received the compensation for land use from ASEAN, but the lives of local residents were still very good.

“There are 84 households in the village, and most of them have tractors, harrows or harvesters. With the streams, we can grow 2-3 corn and rice crops a year. The soil is fertile, food is superfluous, husbandry develops,” he said.

Thien Nhien