Rubber plantation owners in Mon State are deeply worried as the Htay Company increases storage of rare timber near to – or on – their land without permission. Owners report damage to access roads by the heavily laden ten-wheeled trucks transporting the logs, as well as interruptions to the management of their plantations.

According to the estimates of local residents, approximately fifty trucks worth of timber belonging to Htay Company are now piled near plantations in Abhit village, Mudon Township. Htay Co., owned by Major General Hla Htay Win, operates a branch in Abhit village, which is situated on the main road linking Burma’s southern peninsula to Moulmein, Mon State’s capital.

Residents say they fear that future loads of timber will spill onto and supplant their plantations. Though owners report needing to cut and cull their plantations of unproductive trees before the rainy season, they say they will not do so for fear cleared space will be filled by Htay Co. timber.

“Even though we would like to cut down our old trees we have to delay it. If we cut them down they will get space to pile their timber. That’s why we have to delay,” said a villager.

Locals say that Htay Co. did not request permission to store the timber. According to a source close to the Htay Co. branch office who talked with an employee, owner Major General Hla Htay Win has a very good relationship with the Burmese military’s top leaders. The timber is destined for Naypyidaw, although there are rumors it is also intended for export. The source added that this was why the trucks had no problem passing through military checkpoints and were not taxed.

The company appears to even be operating above the control of local checkpoints. “We didn’t get any tax from the timber trucks,” a Burmese army soldier who operates a government chekpoint said. If one of [the Htay Co. trucks] has puncture, we even have to help fix it.”

A source from Three Pagodas Pass said the stored timber is rare ironwood from the 50,000-acre Makate Forest in Karen State. Though Htay Co. was ordered to halt logging in January by the Karen rebel group which controls the forest, it is being allowed to remove 2,500 tons of timber already felled. This timber is being transported it to Abhit for storage before onward transfer. The source said the company carried it from Makate to Abhit through Kyun Chaung, Anangwin, and Khalae Thagon Taing villages. It is unknown how much has already been removed or how much still remains in Makate.

The Abhit villagers said they have not seen large ironwood timber for a long time. The trunks of those stored near their land are as long as the trucks the ride on and bigger around than the arms of two men. They say it seems to them that the forests of Mon State and Karen State will soon be gone because trees like these are rare and in demand.