After being barred from taking part in the recent public hearing at Wahiajer, East Jaintia Hills for the proposed cement factory of Megatop Cement Ltd, members of Jaintia Women Council (JWC) led by its president Bansara Lamare today staged a sit-in protest infront of Kiang Nangbah statue near the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Khliehriat.
It may be mentioned that members of various organisations were prevented from entering the venue of the public hearing conducted by Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) at Wahiajer on October 18.
Volunteers who stood guard at the National Highway-6 at Umtyra disallowed outsiders from entering the site of the public hearing.
JWC members displayed placards condemning the decision to prevent them from taking part in the public hearing to express their opinions on the proposed cement plant.
Later East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner Shivansh Awasthi called the JWC members for talks and advised them to give their views in writing which they did today itself.
In their letter, JWC president Bansara Lamare and secretary Nika Lapasam expressed shock that volunteers were deployed to prevent organisations wanting to participate at the public hearing.
The JWC leaders also said that such obstruction indicated that the public hearing was not fair. They also demanded fresh holding of public hearing in order to hear the views and opinions of all on the proposed cement factory.