MANDALAY — As talk heats up over jade mining in Kachin State’s troubled Hpakant region amid reports of frenzied extraction of the precious gems there in recent months, Burma’s deputy minister of mines vowed Monday to prosecute illegal jade miners large and small.
The ministry’s plan was discussed during a session of Parliament’s Upper House, where lawmakers called on the Union government to take action to restore rule of law in the region and prevent further landslides and environmental degradation.
“The ministry is going to take legal action against illegal miners and prospectors who are looking for residual jade in the pilings of mining waste,” said Than Tun Aung, deputy minister of mines, in response to a motion submitted by Kachin lawmaker Khet Tein Nan urging government solutions to some of the problems that have beset the jade trade in Hpakant Township.
The deputy minister said the ministry was mulling possible amendments to Burma’s Gems Mining Law to ensure better environmental protections and prevention of illegal mining, a tightening of permitting and enforcement on limits to the use of heavy machinery. The measures would be aimed at making gems mining a more sustainable sector, he added.
Regarding complaints that the fundamental ill afflicting Hpakant is an absence of the rule of law, Than Tun Aung said on this matter the ministry would cooperate with local authorities, the Kachin State government, the military and even ethnic armed groups operating in the region. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
No comments:
Post a Comment