A member of parliament urged the Union government to enforce the laws against the illegal trade of timber in Myanmar during yesterday’s Pyithu Hluttaw session, state media reported on 14 July.
MP U Kyaw Aung Lwin read a statement that said the country’s illegal timber trade was a large-scale problem that is rife with corruption.Village administrators and township-level officials often face pressure to offer protection to illegal traders, the MP said.
Between the years 2002 to 2017, one deputy administrator and eight people have been killed and 42 have been injured in Myanmar during investigations into illegal timber trading, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.
Illegal logging is a significant problem in Myanmar, with poor governance, weak law enforcement and conflict hindering efforts to address the problem, the report said.
