Thai firm to give Ledo Road in northern Burma new look

http://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asia-news/38878-thai-firm-give-ledo-road-northern.html

Written by KNG
Friday, 07 November 2008 20:50

The historical Ledo Road also called Stilwell Road is being reconstructed. An 80 mile stretch between Myitkyina and Danai (Tanai) in Kachin State of northern Burma is being reinstructed by a Thai company, a subsidiary of the Yuzana Company since early this week, said locals.

Thai road construction workers with their families are living in car-houses and are reconstructing the road with the help of construction equipment from Namti city on the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway heading towards Danai city, said residents of Namti.



According to local eyewitnesses, the Thai company is repaving a 'Stony Road' on the damaged Ledo Road. The road is being rebuilt for summer transportation only.

U Htay Myint, chairman of the Rangoon-based Yuzana Company, is close to Burmese ruling junta's Vice-senior general Maung Aye. The company as such was given the contract to rebuild Ledo Road on the western part of Kachin State by the junta last year.


Before Yuzana Company was given the contract to reconstruct the road, the company bought over 200,000 acres of land in Hukawng (Hugawng) Valley, the world's largest tiger sanctuary from the ruling junta in 2006, an area where Ledo Road crosses.

Since late 2006, the company has started to clear forests in the areas 10 miles beyond the left and right of Ledo Road for crop plantation.

The company transports timber from the forest for foreign export and the newly ploughed fields have been planted mainly with sugarcane, cassava plants and rubber plants, said residents of Hukawng Valley.

Deforestation has become a daily affair and is severely extending into Hukawng Valley for two reasons--- heavy gold mining by the junta-backed Chinese gold companies and clearing of forests for crop plantation by the junta-backed Yuzana Company, said Awng Wa, chairman of Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) which recently published the report "Valley of Darkness" on gold mining and militarization in Hukawng Valley.

The man-made rapid deforestation will impact the survival of natives and threaten the extinction of tigers in the Hukawng Tiger Sanctuary. The ecology of the region is doomed, he added.

kachinnews.com
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