“It is very questionable the idea to set up a bronze statue of general Aung San in Kachin State before any political agreement is made. They are still trying to reach a Panglong agreement and negotiations are ongoing,” Hkun Seng told the Kachinnews.

According to the WMR chairman there are many different opinions regarding the setting up of the general's statue in Kachin state. He says his organization is against the plan because now is not the right time for such a statue. According to WMR the statue should be built only after promises made by Aung San regarding the development of a real federal union in Burma are fulfilled. This was also detailed in the letter sent to the Kachin state Chief Minister last month.

“There are still a lot of problems in Kachin State, the jade and timber are gone. People are degenerating, if the statue is set up it means Kachinland will too disappear so we, the WMR, warn them that it is not the right time and they should stop the plan for some time,” the WMR chairman said.

The WMR was established by senior community leaders from the different Kachin sub-groups in 2002.

The statue's backers disagree with WMR's stance. Myat Kyaw Thu the chairman of the organizing committee tasked with building the statue has said that they received permission to set up the statue from the Chief Minister on 23rd December and that construction will start on 13th February.

“We hope that setting up the general’s statue will help make his spirit be reborn in Burma”, he said.
About half of the statue was built in Mandalay. The statue will be set up near a street corner close to Myitkyina's No.1 High School, according to the chairman of the committee.