UNB, Dinajpur :
Local people continued their protests for the second consecutive day on Thursday against the government’s plan for open-pit mining in Barapukuria Coal Mine and demanding withdrawal of Asia Energy’s country director Gary Lye.
The protesters have been on a dawn-to-dusk siege programme in the upazila, disrupting traffic on Dhaka-Dinajpur Highway since morning.
Besides, all shops and business establishments remained closed as part of their protest programme.
The agitators burned tyres on the road at Nimtola
intersection in the morning. They staged demonstrations and brought out processions at the upazila headquarters.
Earlier on Wednesday, the residents of Phulbari upazila burst into protests following the visit of the Asia Energy country chief to the local office of the company.
The aggrieved people besieged the Asia Energy office during a meeting of Gray and vandalised three vehicles in front of the office.
Manik Sarkar, a leader of Phulbari Movement, announced the siege prorgramme on Wednesday afternoon.
The Phulbari Coal Mine project had also got stalled amid strong protests by the local people in August 2006 that resulted in the deaths of six people in police firing. Since then, the government has shelved the deal primarily to avert local protests, but it did not cancel Asia Energy’s multi-billion dollar three-decade investment proposal to tap 572 million tonnes of high quality coal.
Local people continued their protests for the second consecutive day on Thursday against the government’s plan for open-pit mining in Barapukuria Coal Mine and demanding withdrawal of Asia Energy’s country director Gary Lye.
The protesters have been on a dawn-to-dusk siege programme in the upazila, disrupting traffic on Dhaka-Dinajpur Highway since morning.
Besides, all shops and business establishments remained closed as part of their protest programme.
The agitators burned tyres on the road at Nimtola
intersection in the morning. They staged demonstrations and brought out processions at the upazila headquarters.
Earlier on Wednesday, the residents of Phulbari upazila burst into protests following the visit of the Asia Energy country chief to the local office of the company.
The aggrieved people besieged the Asia Energy office during a meeting of Gray and vandalised three vehicles in front of the office.
Manik Sarkar, a leader of Phulbari Movement, announced the siege prorgramme on Wednesday afternoon.
The Phulbari Coal Mine project had also got stalled amid strong protests by the local people in August 2006 that resulted in the deaths of six people in police firing. Since then, the government has shelved the deal primarily to avert local protests, but it did not cancel Asia Energy’s multi-billion dollar three-decade investment proposal to tap 572 million tonnes of high quality coal.
