Government authorities will introduce more control on new licenses for the jade mining sector in the future

The authorities are expected to limit the issue of new licenses for jade mining in the future, said U Aung Nyunt Thein, managing director of Myanmar Gems Enterprise, which is under the remit of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.

The granting of new licenses will be conducted in phases. “For example, for every 100 blocks available, we will issue licenses for 20 initially. If these are managed well, we will consider granting the next 10. We will focus on a mining plan under which the amount of jade and gems extracted is transparent and traceable,” U Aung Nyunt Thein said at the American Center in Yangon on May 29.

The government is taking a more controlled approach after unbridled mining activities took place in the past, particularly at Hpakant and Lone Khin in Kachin State, resulting in excessive extraction of jade, much of which went unrecorded due to poor management and control. 

There were too many mining sites compared to government officers in the past, so regulations were not enforced and mining activities were harder to control, said U Maw Tun Aung, manager at the National Resource Governance Institute in Myanmar. 

He added that there should be greater communications between the official bodies involved in policing the mining sector. “There is the Myanmar Gems Enterprise, Department of Mines and Environmental Conservation Department. There should a trilateral cooperation arrangement between them as this will ensure the enforcement of the law is more effective,” U Maw Tun Aung said.

For example, there are no inspections and action taken on hazardous working conditions at the mines that could result in landslides, he said. 

Daw Moe Moe Tun, a representative from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, said more authority should be given to regional governments and civilian organisations to carry out such checks if the government is understaffed.

She added that ground checks should be conducted regularly to monitor the mining activities and take action on miners that continue to operate on expired licenses. “Currently, illegal miners get leaked information on upcoming spot checks so they stop mining in advance but once the checks are over they continue mining. There should be more discipline among the authorities and stricter sentences on companies found flouting the rules,” she said.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/govt-introduce-more-control-jade-mining-sector.html )

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