The Burmese government is calling for new bids to build Chin State’s first cement factory, after the company that won the original tender was found to have unpaid debts to the Ministry of Mines.

“The company got a contract for gold blocks from the mining ministry, but the company owed many gold tons to them. That’s why the company was rejected by the mining ministry even though the company won the tender for the cement factory in Chin State,” the state’s municipal minister U Soe Htet told Khonumthung News.

U Soe Htet said that the factory is a joint venture between international and domestic companies, which is why the Union government is handling the tender.

The cement factory in question will be located near Bone Zone village in Hakha Township.

“I want this project to start as soon as it can. The Union government directly handles big projects like this. I think this project will provide many jobs for local people,” forest minister Mang Hin Derl told Khonumthung News.

Bone Zone is located near the border between Magwe Region and Chin State. The government will also reportedly build a railway for transporting the cement. While government representatives tout the benefits of the project, cement factories have also been a source of controversy in Burma. A cement factory in Kyaikmayaw, Mon State, came under criticism by locals in 2017 when it became apparent that it was being run by an adjacent coal-fired power plant for which it did not have permission to operate. Fishermen also complained that the traffic of ships carrying stones and coal to the factory was congesting and destroying local waterways.