Ten days after the Uru River flooded over and landslides hit Burma's jade mining city of Hpakant in Kachin State, there is critical need for drinking water, food, shelter and medicine for hundreds of victims, said local NGOs.
Most victims are residents and migrant labourers of Hpakant jade mining city. Some are receiving a limited amount of food and drinking water as relief from local jade tycoons and local Christian and Buddhist organizations, said victims.
The Holland based Artsen Zonder Grenzen (AZG), also called Doctor Without Borders is providing basic food and medicine to the victims in Seng Tawng village where over 27 households were buried in mudslides from soil dug out from nearby jade mines. But there were no casualties, said residents.
Meanwhile, the office of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) in Kachin State's capital Myitkyina directed its 15 sub-conventions in the country on July 7 to pray and donate funds for the flood affected churches in Hpakant, said KBC sources.
Yesterday, a national non-governmental organization the Metta Development Foundation (MDF) officially released a statement titled "Hpakant Emergency Relief" and requested US$ 13,200 for kitchen utensils, tarpaulin and rehabilitation of 200 households who are permanent residents of Hpakant.
MDF said a total of 422 houses have been inundated and 94 houses were swept away by landslides caused by mud dug out from nearby jade mines. The badly affected villages are Nga-Pyaw-Taw, Kala Jaung, Maw One and Seng Tawng, said Metta.
MDF said that it has recorded 24 deaths. It is difficult to search for bodies because of flood waters, heaps of mud and debris. However, over 100 people were said to have lost their lives during severe floods and landslides on July 4 and 5, said residents of Hpakant and sources in the Burma's junta's Hpakant administrative office (Ma Ya Ka).
A resident of Seng Tawng told KNG today, people died in Nam Maw and Tarmakhan areas but the death toll is yet to be ascertained. He also said that the military authorities are hiding the actual death toll.
The Burmese junta annually earns the third largest foreign exchange from the sale of gem, mainly Hpakant jade stones but it is yet to organise proper rescue and relief measures for the flood and landslide affected victims of Hpakant, residents complained.
