People forced in logging for army fund
16 October 2007 - In Burma there seems to be two sets of rules – one for the Burma Army and another for the people. The people are prohibited from felling trees but the army can do it. The army authorities of the Light Infantry Battalion (268) stationed in northern Chin state has been forcibly engaging locals in timber logging for the army fund.
Pic - Chin hill in northwestern Burma.
Captain Aung Min, camp commander of LIB (268) outpost stationed in Falam township in Chin state has been forcing villagers who can use a saw for logging timber in the forests surrounding Ram Hlo village in Falam for the army welfare fund since the first week of June.
The hardwood is sold for Kyat 3,000 (Burma currency) per a cubit. Only one-fourth of the revenue from selling the hardwood goes to locals who are engaged in logging, a local in Falam said.
"If logging is for the army, they don't spare any tree while people are strictly prohibited from cutting down trees," he added.
Up to 1000 cubits of timber have been already extracted from the forest since the logging began.
"If they, the army, continue the logging, there will be further deforestation in the region," said a local.
The military junta in May, 2007 prohibited logging in the forests of Chin state to prevent ecological damage. – Khonumthung.
