The Royal Eagle Myanmar Development Group has recently resumed excavation at Mt. Mein Balar, near Thanbyuzayat in Mon State. The location is near a World War II-era Japanese army base where artifacts may be buried. According to the local resident, there might be weapons or treasures left at the Mein Balar [mountain] cave by Japanese soldiers. The local community is concerned because no permit letter for the excavation has been provided.
U Myo Thant, an administrator of Wah Kawar village near the site commented, “If they happened to find an object, local people will have no right to get involved. That is one of my concerns. If there is transparency between the company and the government, local people might have nothing to concern about.”
The site has attracted the interests of other companies. In February 2018, another company based in Yangon, Golden Geo Myanmar Co., Ltd began excavations at Mt. Mein Balar but had to end their operations as no permissions had been granted.
In April 2018, Royal Eagle obtained excavation permits from the Mon State government but stopped its operations until July of 2019, when they began to excavate again.
This most recent excavation was allegedly permitted by the Union Government, but according to Dr. Min Kyi Win, Mon State Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation his Ministry was not informed of the company’s current operations at the mountain.
“Given the permission from the Union Government, the company must have agreement from the state government. We [Mon State government] will have to negotiate and inspect the proposal, and then will reply upon the proposal. Without permission, they [the company] can do nothing. They can’t even dig for the sand and can’t bake for the bricks,” said Minister Dr. Min Kyi Win.
U Thein Htut, Administrator of Thanbyuzayat Township, added the company did not inform the Township’s General Administration Department (GAD) in advance of their plans.
According to a company worker at the site, they are currently in the area to collect the remaining equipment from experimental excavation operations dating back to last year.
The area has been fenced preventing anyone including media to enter the site.
Mon News Agency tried to reach Royal Eagle Myanmar Development Group Co., Ltd for a comment, but the company had not responded.
