Hundreds of thousands left jobless in central Myanmar as junta shuts down oil fields

By Admin 12 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
12 June 2023, Sittwe

The shutdown of oil wells in Mandalay, Magway and Sagaing regions has left more than 300,000 people jobless, according to local businessmen involved in the industry.

Myanmar’s military regime ordered the closure of at least nine oil fields in Magway Region’s Minbu, Thayet and Minhla on June 5, according to miners.

Those oil fields in Magway have been operated for around 18 years, and the forced closure left more than 100,000 people jobless.

“I have lost everything. I have had to ask my family to send me 200,000 kyats as I have no money to return home. I am completely at a loss,” said Ko Naing Min Htet, a mining businessman operating in the Nga Naung Hman oil field.

Ko Naing Min Htet said he had invested around 33 million kyats to dig a new well in the Nga Naung Hman oil field, but the closure effectively means he has lost all 33 million kyats.

The regime also ordered closure by May 21 of the Tetma oil field, which employed around 200,000 miners in Mandalay Region, and threatened legal action under existing laws and local regulations. Businessmen there have since abandoned the oil field.

The Tetma oil field was closed for allegedly funding a People’s Defence Force fighting the military regime. Businessmen have denied the allegation, saying they have nothing to do with politics.

“We have become jobless overnight. As I have engaged in this industry since I was young, I don’t know what else to do to make a living. Not only businessmen, but miners, shop owners, autorickshaw drivers were also made jobless,” a businessman from the Tetma oil field who asked for anonymity told DMG.

The regime began forcing the closure of oil fields in May after allegations spread on social media that the oil fields were funding PDFs.

The junta-controlled Energy Ministry also announced on May 4 that it would suspend the operating privileges of local oil refineries with valid licences, as well as pausing renewals of licences for them.

Myanmar lost about 1.6 million jobs in 2021 amid the combined shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and military coup,  according to an International Labour Organization (ILO) report in January of last year.