The junta has yet to carry out measures to help out Mon State rubber farmers, despite agreeing to the measures at a meeting with the farmers in December.
The measures were decided on at a meeting to workshop ways of helping out and improve the Mon State rubber sector, held on 17 December 2024, between junta-appointed authorities, rubber plantation owners and other interested parties.
The junta pledged to put the measures into place, but nothing has yet happened, according to a a plantation owner who requested anonymity.
He said to Than Lwin Times: “We have submitted the discussion results in detail to the authorities, but nothing has happened yet. It's been over a month, and we haven't seen any implementation. We're still waiting, but no instructions have arrived either. We just want the authorities to support us with the challenges we face on the ground.”
The junta agreed to about 20 of the requests made at the meeting, including proposals to waive tolls for rubber transportation and to relax certain regulations.
However, junta checkpoints are still imposing excessive tolls on trucks carrying rubber and extorting money if documents, such as permits for transporting raw materials, are incomplete, according to sources within the Mon State rubber industry.
The junta has urged rubber producers to focus on improving production and quality, producing high-value rubber products, and exporting them abroad. It also said that they would be able sell their product freely throughout Myanmar, as long as they follow all the necessary regulations.
Following the February 2021 coup the rubber industry in Mon State has faced hardships. These included increased prices for the import of raw materials required for rubber production, increased general costs, a shortage of skilled workers due to the junta's conscription law and being unable to tap rubber from thousands of acres of rubber plantations because of security concerns.
Mon State is one of Myanmar's top rubber-producing regions, with approximately 500,000 acres of rubber plantations and an annual production of around 100,000 tons of rubber.
