Flood disaster in eastern Shan State was man-made
The devastating impacts of
August’s floods in eastern Shan State, which destroyed homes and farms in four
villages and killed five people, were the direct result of unregulated logging
and rubber monocropping in this remote mountainous area along the Mekong River.
The floodwaters originated in the Loi
Phalang mountain range, running east from Tarlay, in Tachileik Township, to the
Mekong River. These mountains have been heavily logged since the mid-1990s,
with timber exported along the Mekong to China and Thailand. Most of the valuable
timber, such as rosewood, has long been stripped off lower slopes, but logs of
various species remain piled up on remote hilltops, waiting to be sawn into
blocks for export.
On the lower hillsides, biodiverse
forests have been replaced by monocrop rubber plantations. Rubber trees carpet
the hills all along the 37-mile road from Tarlay to the new Laos-Myanmar
Friendship Bridge at Keng Larb.
These elements laid the foundation
for August’s flood disaster. On the evening of August 3, heavy rainfall washed heaps of felled
timber down from mountaintop logging sites. These logs were pushed along five
main streams, where they formed giant log jams.
As rainfall continued, water
pressure built up behind the logs, compounded by fast runoff from the rubber
plantations, long stripped of absorbent undergrowth and topsoil. Finally, in the early hours of August 4, the
log jams burst apart, sending a deadly torrent of timber, rocks and mud down
into the valley below.
The Shan village of Wan Kai,
directly in the path of the Nam Kai stream, was the worst hit. Residents were awoken
by a thunderous crashing, and rushed frantically from their homes to flee the
torrent. Four people, including the one-and-a-half year old child of a local schoolteacher,
were swept away and perished. Twenty-three houses were completely demolished.
All of the paddy fields of the
Lahu village of Nam Wan were destroyed by the deluge of logs and rocks. A young
farmer, who had slept in his fields, disappeared that night. His body has not
yet been found.
Although Burmese government soldiers
from Mong Phyak came to clear mud and rubble from the roads soon after the
disaster, there has been no attempt yet to clear the devastated fields. The
main local livelihood is rice farming, but villagers now fear, if their fields
cannot be restored, they have lost not only this year’s harvest but also future
harvests.
While local villages are suffering
the terrible costs of this disaster, those who authorized and profited from the
logging and rubber concessions that caused the tragedy remain unscathed.
This flood disaster must serve as
a wake-up call for Burma’s policymakers. Current development policies are
reckless and unsustainable, serving the interests of only a few outside
investors, while destroying the environment, lives and future of local people.
President Thein Sein, formerly the
Triangle Regional Commander, who prides himself on his close links to eastern Shan
State residents, should take a long, hard look at the legacy of his presidential
term in this area. The deluge of mud speaks volumes.
By JAPHET JAKUI / Director, Lahu National Development Organisation (LNDO)
Tags: Opinion
