Junta resumes plantations for biofuel post referendum

Kachin News

Burma's ruling military junta has resumed its state-project of growing castor oil trees (Jatropha curcas) for biofuel production by using local civilians without paying them wages in Northern Burma post the constitutional referendum in May, according to the locals.

In this morning's heavy monsoon downpour in Myitkyina Township the capital of Kachin State, hundreds of residents had to plant thousands of castor oil trees (Physic nut trees) also called Jet Suu in Burmese in the open space in their quarters, Myitkyina residents told KNG today.

According to eyewitnesses, they saw over a hundred civilians with knives and mattocks in Du Mare (Du Kahtawng), Shatapru and Tatkone quarters planting Physic nut saplings in their quarters between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Burma Standard Time in heavy rain.

A resident in Du Mare said, "This morning over a hundred residents from our quarters planted more than 4,000 Physic nut saplings in the free space between Du Mare and the other two quarters on the same side --- Jan Mai Kawng and Edin quarters on the eastern side of the railway."

He added, Du Mare residents had also planted Physic nut saplings yesterday in the same areas and only 10 residents in each block in Du Mare were asked to plant saplings every time by the administrators of Quarter Peace and Development Council (QPDC).

All villages and quarter administrators in the township have been warned by the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) to avoid the Physic nut plantation activities with the masses, a source close to TPDC said.

Local administrators of villages and quarters said, they had been ordered to apply less than 10 civilians in each plantation sector because the junta was worried about media attention if it used a mass of people rather than small numbers of people.

Last year in Myitkyina, residents were called and paid wages for growing the Physic nut saplings by the authorities but this year they have not been paid--- the residents have turned into forced labourers, a local in Myitkyina added.

According to the report titled "Biofuel by Decree" released on May 1 by the Thailand-based Ethnic Community Development Forum (ECDF), Burma's ruling junta has planned to grow eight million acres of Physic nut trees for biofuel production throughout the country.

Under this project, Burma's Supremo, Senior General Than Shwe has instructed that each state and division in the country must cultivate 500,000 acres within three years, the ECDF report said. Burma has seven states and seven divisions.

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The full report Biofuel by Decree: Unmasking Burma's Bio-energy Fiasco by the Ethnic Community Development Forum can be viewed at: http://www.terraper.org/key_issues_view.php?id=17