Landslide Leads to Relocation of Homes

An estimated 100 residents in Hpakant Township, also known as Jade Land, in northern Kachin State have been ordered to relocate following a landslide on July 5, according to local residents.

Residents in Hpakant Township said that the municipal authority ordered the relocation due to the huge displacement of soil that surrounded the homes.

A torrential rain caused a landslide on July 5 along the Uru River, residents said, which killed an estimated 70 people. The official death toll was 24 people, according to state-run media.

A Hpakant Township official, contacted by The Irrawaddy, said he was not authorized to comment on the number of homes relocated.

A member of a Kachan relief team that responded to the landslide, who asked to remain anonymous, said the authorities didn’t pay compensation to the homeowners and many residents have no way to rebuild and nowhere to go.

About 20 houses, each valued at about 5 million kyat (US $4,546), were among those ordered to be relocated, he said.

A woman resident in Hpakant Township said, “Here it is difficult if something happens to you, because no one will help you. The authorities will not take care of you.”

The Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG), based on the Burmese-Sino border, said that forced relocation is common in Hpakant and residents have been forced to relocate by authorities when jade companies require more land.

Awng Wa, the group’s chairman, said 40 residents were evicted from More Maung Hill in May to provide land for a mining company.

The land belonged to a church and efforts by church leaders and residents to have the land returned failed.

About 100 jade mining companies operate in the area. The KDNG says the environment in the area is being destroyed and local residents’ rights are being abused by the regime’s support of the jade mining enterprises. Working conditions are unsafe, and TB and HIV/AIDS are rife in the camps where the miners are housed, according to the KDNG.

Several thousand workers are employed in the jade mines, which are a major source of foreign currency for the government.