The military council has resumed the suspended airfield project in Nogmung Township in Putao District in Kachin State, but without any local demand, it appears its main purpose is military.
“The resumption of the suspended project has been going on for around two weeks. The people near the project said the construction work is secretly done at night,” a local said.
He added “I have heard that there are many people who are linked to the army involved. The army has designed our region as the white area. There are no the KIA and the PDF around here,” said a local who declined to be named.
Nogmung airfield project in the northern Kachin State started in the time of the government- led by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in 2013. It was suspended after the government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in 2015.
A man from Nogmung said: “Most of the locals are from the grass-roots. It is not easy for locals to be able to afford a flight. Flight ticket price is much higher than a local taxi price. We don’t need the airfield.”
While meeting with locals in Nogmung in 2019, former Myanmar State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said the roads were key for the regional development, rather than the airfield.
Nogmung Township is located in the northern remote area. Due to difficulty communication and road access, a few locals have called for the swift construction of suspended airfield. the USDP candidate has built a hotel in which 20 guests can stay, near the airfield.
