Green Signal From Junta For Gold Mining At Irrawaddy Site

Written by KNG
Wednesday, 09 December 2009

Mining for gold at the predicted flood zones of the Myitsone dam project in Irrawaddy River in Burma’s northern Kachin State, has been given the go ahead by the military junta, said local sources close to gold mining firms.

The idea is to dig out gold from zones, which will be flooded before the dam construction begins or else the gold would be wasted, said sources close to local military authorities.

The permission for gold mining on the dam site has been given by the junta’s Ministry of Mines. The regime is now calling on companies to submit gold mining permissions, said local businessmen.

The local military authorities have said that permission will be easily granted if they apply in the names of former Kachin ceasefire groups— Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group and the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), sources close to local companies said.

The Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group, which split from Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in 2004, officially transformed to two local militia groups under the control of the Burmese Army — called the Gwi Htu and Lawa Yang with 30 men in each on October 16.