Junta forces villagers to plant teak

_{By Lieng Lern (Tel:++6683 1537724})
 
On 23 February 2008, Maj. Khin Tun, together with 36 soldiers from Infantry Battalion (IB) 43, based at Yang Kham village, went to the villages in the township and instructed villagers to plant teak. Every household was required to plant 150 teak saplings. Each family had to pay Kyat 100,000 ($80) to the battalion if they did not want to plant teak, said a villager of Yang Kham.
 
"They ordered us to plant teak beside the road between linking villages of Wan Na Kaw, Wan Maikawngka, Nam La and Ho Yang, across the villagers' tea plantations," said the source.
 
The tea growers reportedly went to Maj. Khin Tun and said they could not plant teak on their farms. Each villager was than fined Kyat 50,000 ($40) for refusal and told that it was their [battalion’s] land and they could do teak plantation wherever they wanted to.
 
There are seven Shan villages, three Palaung villages and two Lahu villages in Mong Kien village tract, Mong Pieng Township, which is 65 miles west of Kengtung, eastern Shan State capital.
 
Timber export is one of Burma's main sources for foreign currency. Illegal loggings, especially along the border areas, have much depleted the country's forests. In many cases, the regime's ban on logging of hardwood is flouted by its own officials, according to environmental activists.