Myanmar’s military regime is planning to restart the Nayputaung marble stone production project in Taungup Township, Arakan State, drawing criticism from local residents. The project was suspended under the now ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

Critics say locals will continue to get nothing from the marble quarry, while the Vietnam-backed project will have a harmful effect on nature, said local environmentalists and residents.

“This will benefit the military council. But Arakan residents will not receive any benefit from the project. This is a project that has caused huge losses for Arakan residents,” environmentalist U Tun Kyi told DMG.

The project was part of a Vietnam-Myanmar cooperation agreement signed between U Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government and the Vietnamese prime minister in 2010. The state-owned No. 1 Mining Industry of Myanmar and Vietnam’s Simco Songda signed a contract in March 2012 to produce decorative marble stones on more than 2.3 square kilometres of land in Nayputaung aka Mt. Naypu until 2032.

Arakan State residents from Taungup and beyond have since demanded an immediate end to marble quarrying at Nayputaung, saying the project is tantamount to environmental vandalism and has gone forward contrary to the wishes of the local community.

The project was suspended in April 2018 under the NLD government as it was no longer financially feasible. The NLD’s natural resources and environmental conservation minister, U Ohn Win, told the Upper House of Myanmar’s bicameral Parliament that the project was suspended because of high production and transportation costs. The project had no access to electricity supplied by the national grid and was being run with diesel generators, he said.

Simco Songda and Myanmar’s military regime have reportedly signed a contract to restart theproject.

“The project has inflicted immeasurable environmental impacts. It might well impact the farms of local people and water resources. The military council is implementing this project only for their interests,” said local environmentalist Ko Myo Lwin.

Furthermore, locals were only offered low-paid jobs at the quarry, residents said.

“The project lacks transparency. Throughout the operation, locals were only offered lowly jobs like cleaners and cooks. So, we can’t say the project has benefitted locals,” said a Taungup resident.

A joint management committee for resumption of the project has recently been formed with four representatives each from the junta’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and the Vietnamese company.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from the Arakan State Administration Council (ASAC) minister for natural resources, U Than Tun, or ASAC spokesman U Hla Thein.