Karen National Union asked to cancel its cement plant plans

Karen National Union received a petition by nearly 1000 residents from Mon State asking to cancel a quarry and a cement factory planned for construction in a mountain pass, near the township of Thaton, Myanmar.

The Min Lwin Mountain is sacred to the locals and the planned projects could lead to deforestation, extinction of wildlife, land disputes as well as pollution, local residents claim. A committee gathered over 900 signatures on its latest appeal, which was sent to the KNU on 27 May. The petition calls for the KNU to formally announce a permanent end to the projects.

The KNU suspended the project in May 2016 in response to protests and complaints lodged by the Min Lwin Area Natural Environment Protection Committee.

"Although the KNU said the Min Lwin Mountain [project] has been suspended, they are still coming to meet with the local residents to discuss the project, so we submitted this letter. We don’t want them to make any more demands for carrying out this project. We have told them several times not to carry it out," said the Min Lwin Area Natural Environment Protection Committee’s vice chair, Naw Than Sein.

The KNU Thaton District’s chair most recently discussed the planned Min Lwin Mountain cement factory during an 29 April meeting with local residents. The locals reiterated their disapproval of the project at the meeting.