Local residents have voiced their concerns after access to Mt. Mein Balar has been blocked off to carry out a pilot project to turn former Japanese military buildings from the World War II era into a war museum near Thanbyuzayat in the Mon State.
“The rubber plantation owners are worried. Their plantations will be damaged and rubber and water sources will be damaged if old mines explode. Monks from the nearby monastery cannot sleep at night. Bulldozers have been used for excavations until midnight. They couldn’t sleep because of the noises. There are also yogis at the monastery. Kids who go near the area have been shot with a slingshot,” said Ko Linn Linn Khine, a local resident.
Most of the local residents believe weapons and treasures have been buried at the old Japanese military buildings on Mt. Mein Balar during the construction of the Thai-Myanmar Death Railway.
“Whether or not there are treasures, it’s not concerned with us. We only want transparency in this hazardous situation. What is the extent [of this project]? Who gave the permission? Was it the union [government] or the state [government]? If the State Chief Minister allowed it, we want to see the permit letter,” said Ko Linn Linn Khine.
However, the Mon State government’s director U Myint Than Win told the Mon News Agency that the Mon State government granted permission to Yangon-based Royal Eagle Development Group Co., Ltd to conduct a feasibility study on excavating artifacts from the Japanese occupation era at Mt. Mein Balar with the aim to prevent damages to the buried artifacts from the World War II era, stop illegal excavators, and prevent losses in the state budget.
“It’s not true that treasures have been found on Mt. Mein Balar and they are still conducting a feasibility study to find out whether or not excavations can proceed. What I mean is that a company submitted a project. This project is not to excavate until the artifacts have been found. What I mean is that [they] will not keep digging until the artifacts have been found in the cave. They will dig until they reach the cave entrance or wall. Only a feasibility study has been permitted,” said Ko Tun Myint Kyaw, chair of the Thanbyuzayat Township Municipal Committee.
An elderly man who herded cattle near Mt. Mein Balar said it is possible that weapons and treasures had been buried inside the cave by the Japanese people in 1945 while they were fleeing after they lost the war.
