Residents demand halt to Kachin jade mining

Representatives of Hpakant residents declared on Friday that all the jade mining in Kachin state must be suspended until companies can ensure that their activities will benefit local people. 

A statement was issued containing six proposals for the government.

“We have high hopes for the new government we voted for. We do believe that the government will pay heed to our voices and form an investigating task force as soon as possible. 

“If they do not, we will do it ourselves with support from experts and civil society organisations [CSOs],” said La Mone La Taung, a resident.

Mining in Hpakant does not benefit the local community or the country, he said, adding that gains went to a certain group of people and crony companies. 

London-based Global Witness said in a report released last October that Myanmar’s secretive jade industry was worth an estimated US$31 billion (Bt1.1 trillion) in 2014 – far exceeding the $3.4 billion official account. 

Most of the world’s highest quality jadeite comes from Hpakant.

“According to statistics, sales of gems and jade only account for 0.78 per cent of our gross domestic product. We have learnt that a vehicle employed here costs about $1 million and there are more than 1,000 of them. 

“The national income from jade mining is less than the price of machinery here. Is that logical?” asked Ye Thein Oo from the Myanmar Alliance on Transparency and Accountability, a coalition of 518 CSOs.

He joined the team that observed the situation on the ground earlier this month. He found that many companies operate without a licence. With poor transparency, CSOs based in Hpakant do not know how many actually have a licence. His organisation has asked several times for the list of licensees but received no response. 

According to the Mines Ministry, 808 private companies are running 15,638 mines and 222 joint ventures were working on 302 sites in 2012. The mines spread in villages, covering over 15,000 acres.

“The government needs to reconsider if the mining activities in Hpakant are really beneficial to the state,” Ye Thein Oo said. “If the activities only cause widespread human suffering and negative impacts on the environment, it is better to stop them.”

According to La Mone La Taung, some companies entered his village with maps and told villagers that they were authorised to mine a particular area. Villagers did not know how to verify such claims. Most of the available jobs also went to people from the lower part of Myanmar, leaving few for local residents. 

Mining also led to car accidents and mudslides due to the collapse of waste soil. Nearly 300 people have lost their lives since November, said Kai Ra, a local resident. This is on top of the destruction of vast forest areas, as trees were felled for fuel. 

About 50 mountains in the Hpakant region have disappeared and about 10 villages have vanished. Natural disasters like flooding are more frequent, she added.

Naung Latt, another resident, said mining companies pay large sums of money to investigators and even residents who oppose the projects. He said he was offered 2 million kyat (Bt58,500) to stop protesting, but he declined, as money was not the goal of the protest. 

In the proposal, the residents’ demanded the new government suspend all mining until good resource management policies and laws are in place.

Mining companies must face action for loss of lives and property due to frequent landslides and accidents. The government should also form an independent, inclusive investigation commission that includes experts and locals to investigate the losses of the state as well as the public.