YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has reclaimed over 94,400 acres in total of uncultivated private teak plantations, according to the state-run television channel MRTV.
The reason for reclaiming is that the plantation operators failed to fulfill the terms of the agreement and that the lands involved could no longer be cultivated, the Ministry's deputy permanent secretary Daw Zin Mar Tun told Xinhua on Monday.
With the aim of boosting both the economy and the private teak production sector, the government has allowed the establishment of private teak plantations since 2006, Thaung Naing Oo, deputy director general of the Forest Department was quoted as saying in the MRTV report.
As a result of that policy, there are over 265,640 acres of private teak plantations now across the Southeast Asian country, according to the official. ■