Villagers pay the price of jade mining boom
VILLAGERS in the jungles of Myanmar’s northern Kachin state stand upon staggering wealth: Jade worth tens of billions of dollars. Yet they see almost none of that money, even as the precious stone is dug out from under them.
They’ve lost land, homes and entire communities to jade mining. The industry was worth more than US$30 billion last year, according to a new estimate by Global Witness, a group which investigates misuse of resource wealth.
But there is so little investment in the region that cars on the main road to the state capital need elephants to rescue them from the mud. And while big, wellconnected companies rake in most of the jade, informal miners risk and often lose their lives digging for the scraps.
Myanmar has changed much in the four years since a notorious military junta gave way to a nominally elected government and the long-isolated nation began opening up to the world.
The lifting of many sanctions by the West has made it easier for local companies to import the battalion of machines that now dig and haul around the clock.
Researchers believe the dark green rocks are enriching individuals and companies tied to Myanmar’s former military rulers.
The rapacity and industrial scale of the effort to extract jade is fuelling a separatist conflict in Kachin state, and is adding to doubts about the government’s commitment to political reforms and fair economic development since ending its international isolation in 2011.
‘‘Many people have been killed because of these huge mining companies. We hate these companies,’’ said Kai Ra, a member of a group that formed a year ago after there was no accountability or compensation for children and adults killed by trucks and landslides.
‘‘It’s so painful to see these huge machines and whenever we see these earthmovers, we think these are murderers.’’