Pajau Media Channel
According to an unnamed gold mining entrepreneur, as the number of gold mining activities increased in Putao Township along the MaliKha river and creeks, the system of substituting drugs instead of wages for the workers has been operating significantly.
“About ten to seven of gold mining areas who work along the Malikha River, the employers themselves hand out heroin to their miners and force them to work. It’s rare to have a drug-free gold mining area,” he said.
Until early 2022 the anti-drug operations (Pat Jasan) in the township and although the arrests were carried out by the relevant departments, they were unable to arrest and detain the drug dealers. Now and then, there aren’t any anti-drugs actions being taken too, according to a local.
According to the local, many of the workers working at the gold mining areas are from the other far places and he said that it was difficult for them to go home because they did not get paid.
“Most of the workers seem really pitiful. Their wages seem to be paid only with the cost of the drugs (heroin), so there are many workers who are stranded without even saving their wages. If you give them heroin, they work too hard and fast,” he said.
According to another local, although the gold mining companies recruit workers from the other far places and only pay a small fee in the beginning and distribute drugs for free to them, but after they became addicted to drugs, they stopped paying wages and instead only paid for drugs.
As a result, workers who come from far areas to earn money are unable to save money without being paid, so they are stranded as drug addicts in those gold mining areas.
This rapid increase in drug users has been seen significantly since the political change in Putao Township, but there is no effective solution from the relevant governments.
With the spread of drugs in Putao Township, the death and the destruction of the local youth rate is also increasing year by year, said by the local elders.
News - Mali Hku
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