No place in Myanmar illustrates the rampant theft of natural resources by military cronies better than the Pegu Range (Bago Yoma).
Family members of a retired Lieutenant-General have been granted almost 80 square kilometers of these forested uplands, which form a 475-kilometer spine in central Myanmar.
Lt-Gen Ohn Myint’s wife and daughter were handed 19,182 acres of Kapaung reserved forest in Taungoo District, Bago Region under the quasi-civilian regime of president and ex-general U Thein Sein.
His wife Daw Nu Nu Swe and daughter Daw Thiri Swe are officially listed as directors of Thiri Bhetsone, the company that owns the land. “Bhetsone” indicates a multi-operation company.
Ohn Myint headed the army’s No. 3 Bureau of Special Operations under the previous military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council, and was sanctioned by the European Union.
A graduate of the 17th Defense Services Academy (DSA) intake, he also served as DSA commandant, as well as chief of Northern Command.
He gained notoriety for a profanity-laden outburst in 2014 when he threatened residents of a village in Magwe Region while he was minister of livestock, fisheries and rural development under Thein Sein. He earned the nickname ‘Ohn Myint the slapper’ after telling villagers who were protesting a lack of clean water that he wouldn’t hesitate to slap those who complained about government policies.
Other business entities listed under Ohn Myint family ownership include the Thiri gems company and Thiri tourism company. Daw Nu Nu Swe and Daw Thiri Swe sit on the boards of both companies.
The Thiri gems company operates jade mines in Kachin State’s Hpakant and a jade-cutting factory in Naypyitaw.
The Thiri agricultural company was granted the land in Pegu Range to develop an eco-tourism site along with an elephant sanctuary.
While serving as a minister, Ohn Myint told Chinese media that the company owned by his wife and daughter would cooperate with Austria’s Fours Paws International to establish an elephant sanctuary called the Pegu Kapaung Forest Wildlife Sanctuary.
He boasted at the time that the site would become the world’s biggest sanctuary for elephants.
The company then employed locals to conserve the forest and plant trees.
The vast forested area granted to Ohn Myint’s family boasts scenic views ideal for luxury resorts and housing projects.
Other generals and Union-level officials serving in U Thein Sein’s administration also grabbed land in Pego Range under the pretext of forest conservation.
Among them was the current regime’s information minister, retired Maj-Gen Maung Maung Ohn. However, he was forced to return the land to the state when the now-ousted National League for Democracy reappropriated idle forest and vacant plots.
