Htoo Company Smuggles Teak to Bangladesh

Maungdaw (Narinjara): Htoo Company, owned by Burmese tycoon U Te Za, has been illegally exporting teak from western Burma to Bangladesh since the company got permission to harvest teak in western Burma, said a source close to the company.

The source said Htoo Company has, since last year, produced a huge amount of teak from the Mayu Range alongside the motor road connecting Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships in western Burma.

The teak has been stockpiled by the company at Nwa Ron Daung Village in Maungdaw Township, which is located alongside a creek that flows into the Naff River. The Naff River forms the boundary between Burma and Bangladesh.

As the military junta has plans to cultivate rubber plants in the area, particularly in the Mayu Range, the government gave permission to the Htoo Company to clear-cut teak in the area.

A local elder said, "Most of the teak in the area was cultivated over 50 years ago, some before Burma gained independence. It was once the biggest forest in Arakan State."

Even though the company had permission to take teak from the area, there is no market for teak exports except in Bangladesh. The company has been smuggling teak to Bangladesh with the help of two local companies.

A businessman said, "Two business companies from Maungdaw got sub-contracts from the Htoo Company to produce teak from the area. One company is owned by Aung Myint Thein and the other is Myint Brother Ltd."

The two companies have been exporting teak to Bangladesh illegally through the Nwa Ron Daung Jetty, with teak being taken across the Naff River to Bangladesh every night in motor boats.

Maungdaw district authorities and Nasaka officials have remained silent on the issue and have failed to take action, despite the significant amount of teak that is being smuggled to Bangladesh, because the company is owned by Te Za, son-in-law of junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.

According to a witness, large amounts of teak are being piled up alongside the Maungdaw-Buthidaung motor road after being cut from the area.

A government clerk in Maungdaw told Narinjara over the phone that he estimates that there was nearly 10,000 acres of forest where only the teak trees grew. Now the forest has been clear-cut and most of the teak has been taken by the company.

According to a local source, some timber companies in Bangladesh are working with the Htoo Company to smuggle the teak to Bangladesh through the Bondaw trade zone in Teknaf Township.

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Junta to resettle 200,000 Burmans in Hukawng Valley

Written by KNG

The Burmese military junta plans to resettle 200,000 Burman people in ethnic Kachin's Hukawng Valley (also called Hugawng in Kachin) in the country's northern Kachin State before 2010, said regime insiders.

The new Burman settlers, who make up the majority of the country’s population, will be mainly settled in areas close to three Kachin villages known as Nawng Mi, Sahtu Zup and Wara Zup on the Ledo or Stilwell Road also called Burma Road during WW II, added insiders.

In the guise of Rangoon-based Yuzana Company's crop plantation in the Valley, only Burman people from different areas of lower Burma have been resettled in the Valley since late 2006, said native Kachins from the Valley.

A Thai-styled factory is being constructed by Thai technicians under Yuzana Company.

U Htay Myint a Chinese-Burman from Kutkai town in northeast Shan State chairs the company, which bought over 200,000 acres of land in Hukawng Valley from the junta. The purchase was politically motivated, said company sources.

The company is now continuously transporting Burman workers into its crop plantation area in the Valley. However, many workers are leaving the job and fleeing because of very low salaries, said sources among workers.

All runaway workers not only do not return homes from the Valley but the company also does not have a programme of bringing them back, added company sources.

The company has already constructed over 1500 houses for the workers in identical styles in two separate places. Two Thai-styled big factories are also being constructed in two different places near the labour quarters, said eyewitnesses.

The company is now mainly growing Cassava Plants and Sugar Cane in the newly ploughed fields, said eyewitnesses. The glue and curry-sweet powder are being produced for export from next year, according to company sources.

The Burmese military junta plans to resettle 200,000 Burman people in ethnic Kachin's Hukawng Valley (also called Hugawng in Kachin) in the country's northern Kachin State before 2010.

Until now, the junta has already resettled over 40,000 Burman people from lower Burma in the Valley. They were systematically transported by both Yuzana Company and local Burmese Army battalions, said native Kachin community leaders.

There are an estimated 20,000 native Kachin in villages in the Hukawng Valley along the Ledo Road starting from Namti to Shingbwi Yang. The entire Valley has been separately ruled by 12 Kachin Duwas (rulers) in Kachin history until the Britishers gave Burma Independence on January 4, 1948.

At the same time, Htoo Company owned by the Burman tycoon U Te Za (also spelled Tay Za), son-in-law of the junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe is taking out at least 50 trucks of hardwood per day from the Valley to Mogaung train station for export under the banner of Yuzana Company, said company sources.

Besides, U Te Za's Htoo Company is also practically supporting the Yuzana Company with essential finance and construction machinery, according to company insiders.

Recently, the junta's Northern Command (Ma Pa Kha) commander Brig-Gen Soe Win landed in a helicopter at the helipad in No. 1 Yuzana Village of Yuzana Company in the Valley. He proudly spoke to the local people that the crop plantation can be done by every one because peace has been restored in the Valley, said local people.

The Hukawng Valley was named as the world largest Tiger Reserve by the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in 2004. However, the Yunaza Company is destroying the reserve by heavy logging and converting forests into crop fields, said locals.

Locals and eyewitnesses told KNG, the Yuzana Company has already occupied and destroyed the No. 1 Tiger Conservation Camp near Nawng Mi village for crop plantation.

The Burman-dominated junta’s response to people or organizations who oppose the crop plantation of Yuzana Company by saying, "Man is more important than the Tiger", said company sources.

Kachin people in Burma feels that the junta is deeply is into ethnic cleansing and huge land confiscation in Hukawng Valley by using the Yuzana Company and local Burmese Army bases.

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