Locals want to hold on to Myanmar's white marble hills

This photo taken on June 21, 2020 shows a worker cutting a block of marble for a statue in Sagyin village in Madaya township, about 46km from Mandalay. - AFP

MADAYA, Myanmar (AFP): Faces covered in white dust and chisels in hand, marble sculptors in Myanmar say the hills that have given them a livelihood for generations are disappearing, as large companies reap the rewards of the prized white rock.

The deafening sound of cutting and grinding machines, punctuated by the tapping of hammers and chisels, echoes around the hills next to Sagyin village, north of Mandalay.