Northern Command Bans Basic Goods and Fuel to Miners
March 01, 2006

Yaw Na, Kachin Environmental Organization

The Burmese military has recently imposed a ban on the transport of basic goods and fuel to the gold mining concession area near Danai (Tanaing) of the Kachin State. This ban has hit mining operations hard as they lack supplies including fuel to run mining machinery and production has dropped. Some miners have turned to bribing government officials to allow the contraband to pass to the mining areas, while smaller, cash strapped operations have circumvented the ban by smuggling goods through alternative routes.

Recently, the head of the Northern Command, Maj Gen Ohn Myint, ordered a ban on the transport of rice, cooking oil, and fuel for the gold mining machines to mining areas near Danai. This ban has led to a decrease in production as the fuel for mining machinery has decreased mining capacity. The embargo has also hit shopkeepers in the area hard as they have no supplies to sell, according to a local researcher.

Larger-scale mining operations have turned to bribing local officials to allow the passage of goods. However, smaller operations with less available capital have begun smuggling fuel and rice through jungle routes. Many miner operators have turned to borrowing money to support their operations.

Since the ceasefire between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Burmese military in 1994, the Kachin state has turned into bonanza for resources extraction. The government and the KIO have granted resource concession for both timber and gold extraction to the private sector. Chinese companies have received a large share of the contracts. In Danai, gold mining began in 1996 and local people as well as businesses with ties to the KIO, the Burmese government and Sea Sun Star Co. Ltd have received concessions. The revenues from these concessions have provided an important source of income for the KIO.

The motives behind the ban on goods are unclear. According to one mining regulator, the SPDC is trying to cut into the revenue of the KIO. However, other motives exist behind the closure. According to KIO officials, “The government is trying to weaken the KIO by prohibiting the transport of commodities to this area as they know that it is an important area for the KIO.” But according to some Chinese businessmen and miners, the local military authorities are trying to increase their revenues through bribes.

“The prohibition has hit poor people more than the rich as local miners struggle to survive,” according to one researcher in the area. Mining provides an important source of income for the people of Danai. While some residents engage in mining for their main source of livelihood, others plant crops and engage in limited mining. However, the area has seen an increase an influx of Chinese mining operations, which have the capital to engage in large scale, machine assisted operations. The KIO has tried to limit large scale extraction by prohibiting the use of mining machines, but have been overruled by the SPDC. Several of the larger scale operations are owned by Chinese businessmen with close ties to the government.

Some KIO officials view that the cooperation between the KIO and SPDC in gold mining has served to maintain the ceasefire agreement between them. But, many Kachins see that the dividends provided to the KIO by the ceasefire serve the interests of the SPDC in that the KIO is becoming increasingly focused on business concerns rather than maintaining their military capacity.