MP La Mar Naw Aung from the Kachin State Democracy Party, along with a majority of the house, seconded the proposal from MP Lagan Zal Gyone from Waingmaw, Kachin State.

Lagan Zal Gyone said: “Many people, including children, are addicted to drugs which are easily available. They cannot escape the vicious cycle of drugs. For many years this country has lost its valuable human resources.”

The country’s anti-narcotics drive has seen little success despite cooperation from international organisations, including the United Nations.

Kachin and Shan states bear the brunt of the drugs trade. In 2014, 30 mothers from the northern Shan State formed a community-based drug eradication team. Many mothers have to suffer the evil consequences of drugs. They lose husbands, children, homes and cattle. The team arrests drug dealers and hand them over to the authorities, they help addicts to come off drugs and persuade them to lead better lives through religion,” the MP said.

The team educated poppy growers about the drugs trade and coordinated with them, Lagan Zal Gyone said. In 2015, more than 400 acres of poppy plantations were destroyed. During this year, more than 3,000 acres of poppy plantations in Tanaing, Swanparabwan, Putao, Chipwi and Indawgyi regions could be destroyed, he said.

More than 800 poppy acres were destroyed in Waingmaw Township with the help of the government, police and Tatmadaw. But they could not reach the larger plantations as more than 1,000 people equipped with various weapons blocked their way, Lagan Zal Gyone said.

Lagan Zal Gyone said: “Parliament’s undertakings run counter to the situation on the ground and official acts. Currently, a team comprising people from all departments sent by the Kachin State government can destroy at most about 15 poppy acres in Waingmaw region a day. On February 16, more than 4,000 people from northern Shan State and Kachin started to leave the area on the Satone road. We heard they need more security. The group includes mothers and young girls. Foreigners have monopolised poppy growing in the region.

“It undermines our sovereignty. The team is in need of effective assistance to destroy more than 10,000 acres in the government-controlled area in a timely manner.”

The Lower House will continue discussing the issue tomorrow.

“Our citizens who work there are day labourers trying to survive but the foreign owners are making huge profits,” Lagan Zal Gyone told the media.

The motion was filed on the same day that Kachin State government allowed the Kachin State-based anti-narcotics vigilante group Pat Ja San to destroy poppy cultivations in Kanpaikte.

Departmental officers from the Kachin State government, including the regional security and border affairs minister, negotiated with the religious leaders of Pat Ja San on February 23.

On February 16, 2,053 members of Pat Ja San were stopped by government troops near Bar Kyun Bridge at the Chibwe feeder road along the Waingmaw-Kanpaiktee road in Waingmaw Towship after the group’s actions sowing tension between military, ethnic armed groups and locals. The standoff lasted eight days.