Land rights activist U Lashi Awng Lat passed away in the afternoon of 4 April. For more than a decade U Lashi Awng Lat worked hard to help local people get their farm land back from the Yuzana company in the Hukawng valley in Kachin state.
U Lashi Awng Lat, aged 69, had been sick for nearly three months and passed away at his home in Warazup village in Hpakant township around 1:30 p.m. on 4 April.
The Yuzana company entered the Hukawng valley in 2006 after receiving a 200,000 acre concession from senior dictator Than Shwe. U Lashi Awng Lat led local people to organize a land rights movement in Hukawng valley to fight for the return of their land.
Local people said that in addition to his land rights work, U Lashi Awng Lat gave agriculture and animal husbandry training in the area. He worked hard for regional development in eight villages in the Hukawng valley.
“He was so active and worked hard for regional development in this area. He was a kind person. He also gave development training for local people. He was so essential for the local community in this area. We feel so upset, his passing is a great loss. U Lashi Awng Lat is irreplaceable,” a local man told KNG.
U Lashi Awng Lat was the chairperson of Mung Chying Rawt Jat for the Hukawng valley region and he was a member of the Ethnic Farmer Rights Campaign.
