How A Beloved Gemstone Became A Symbol Of Environmental Tragedy In Myanmar

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Freelance miners dig for raw jade at a company site in Hpakant, Myanmar, in 2018.

Hkun Lat

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Hkun Lat

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Residents sit near a damaged house caused by a landslide at a mining site in Hpakant in July. The landslide killed nearly 200 people.

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Hkun Lat

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Freelance miners use flashlights to search for jade at night, during company off-hours, in Hpakant in 2019.

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Freelance miners use flashlights to search for jade at night, during company off-hours, in Hpakant in 2019.

Hkun Lat

Dashi La Seng, Kachin State Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, is concerned about the companies’ destructive mining practices. «If [the current administration] can’t stop this kind of business norm, we are concerned that environmental issues will worsen, he says.

Dashi La Seng says the actions his office can take are limited, with jurisdiction over environmental regulation of the mining industry held at the national level. But one action that the national government delegated to his office this year is removing sediment from the Uru Stream. In past years, the government considered this to be the duty of mining companies, but since flooding continued to worsen, locals this year pushed for the government to clean the stream.

Brang Awng of the Kachin Conservation Working Group, a civil society organization that conducts environmental research and advocacy, would like for the government to play a larger role to protect Hpakant’s natural environment, including the Uru Stream. But he fears it is no longer possible to restore Hpakant to its original natural state.

To prevent further environmental destruction, he says large companies must completely cease operations in Hpakant. The government should also hold companies accountable for cleaning up the damage they have inflicted, he says, and require that companies invest in restoring the local ecosystem.

Jade trader Seng Ban Aung, 27, worries it may be too late to reverse the damage which mining has inflicted upon Hpakant. «Now, the land is almost gone, he says — to jade mines and the environmental destruction which has followed. «Everywhere has become a plot of [company] land.

This article was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Additional reporting by Jaw Tu Hkawng.

Emily Fishbein is a freelance journalist focusing on sharing diverse stories and perspectives from Myanmar, especially Kachin State.

Aung Myat Lamung is a community worker and freelance journalist from Myanmar’s Kachin State.

Hkun Lat is a documentary photographer from Myanmar.