After the jadeite was discovered in the Taut Pa Kye Company work site and confiscated April 27, the company appeared to be shutting down operations.

As a result of the move, scavengers were planning to commit arson on the company premises, said a Hpakant local U Naw Aung yesterday.

“The company is now seeking protection from the army,” he added.

Scavengers in the Taut Pa Kye Company’s work site discovered the jadeite, weighing over 7.8 tons, on April 27.

After the discovery, the army gave the company protection and the Hpakant jade office subsequently seized the mineral as property of the state.

A staff working at the company said that as the current situation was volatile, the company’s jade mining operations would no longer continue and mines would be closed.

Another complaint was that scavengers were not paid fair compensation by the company that gave over K100 million out.

It was alleged that only a few people received the money while the majority were left out.

It was also alleged that when the compensation was distributed among individual scavengers, the amount turned out to be very little, which ignited tensions.

On April 27, U Tint Soe, Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Hpakant, met with scavenger leaders and where they asked for K2 billion during negotiations between the authorities and the Taut Pa Kye Company.

According to U Tint Soe, during the negotiations, the authorities wanted to seize the jadeite rather than negotiate.

If it was seized, then there would be follow-up problems if the mineral was damaged. A discussion was then held on April 28 with potential buyers who did not go ahead with the deal.

As deal fell through, the scavengers were left without a buyer. The company then tried to negotiate and offered K150 million as a token sum and the scavengers accepted it, said U Tint Soe.

“If they are not going to accept it then we are going to have to give the jadeite to the scavengers. Each of the 10,000 scavengers will individually receive K10,000 from the allocated K100 million. The remaining K40 million would be divided among the scavengers who unearthed the stone.” He said.

After the successful negotiation, the company, in the presence of township administrator, paid 
K10,000 per person to over 10,000 people on a list of those eligible.

The miners who made the discovery of the jade stone received a sum of K42.4 million, making the total payment by the company, K150 million, U Tint Soe said.

The jade stone was temporarily kept at the Lone Kin jade office under tight security on the night of April 28.

It is learnt that the stone was then transported under armed guard to Myitkyina jade office by 60 regional reserved policemen that was arranged by the Kachin regional government on the night of April 30.

The high quality giant jadeite rock was unearthed in a work site near Sai Taung village in Hpakant township on April 27, Hpakant locals said.

U Kyaw Myint, a Hpakant native said that although many wealthy buyers wanted to buy the stone, the authorities rejected the offer.

“They wanted to seize the stone, but it was the gem scavengers who had found it. The scavengers took possession of the stone but the authorities threatened to take back the stone that was found in the company work site.

“Although the jade stone was found in the company’s work site, the scavengers are entitled to have it as policy allows the public to excavate in the area during night,” he said.

U Naw Aung, another local from Sai Taung said, “The company does the mining during the day. Although small business owners offer to purchase stones with shares, it is reported that the company bosses will get the stone with the help of the authorities.”

If the jadeite rock was excavated during the day, it would belong to the company.

However, as the stone was found at night when the area was opened to the public, its rightful owners are the gem scavengers, he added.

The company owners can purchase the jade stone by offering a price but there will be problems if the owners try to seize the stone by force.

As the scavengers in this case, wanted to get their rightful share in the sale price, they formed a protective barrier around the huge stone with the army and the police force, U Naw Aung said.

“Problems arise because the jade is of excellent quality. If the quality is poor, everyone will not give it a second look,” he added.

It would seem that the buyer and the scavengers equally share the ownership of the rock.