Compensation still in the pipeline

Compensation still in the pipeline

By Khin Su Wai   |   Friday, 12 July 2013

The gas has apparently started flowing from Myanmar to China but civil society groups monitoring the multi-billion-dollar project say some people are still yet to receive compensation for their land that was confiscated for the project.

A construction worker examines sections of pipeline in Rakhine State's Kyaukpyu township. Photo: Juliet Shwe Gaung

In some cases, they have accused the military of confiscating the land shortly before the project launched and accepting the compensation paid by the Chinese company financing the pipeline.

The project has seen land acquired in from Rakhine State to the border with China in northern Shan State. China National Petroleum Corporation says it has spent millions on compensating affected residents for land that was permanently acquired or damaged during the construction process.

But Ko Thant Zin Oo, from the civil society group Ayeyarwady West Development Organisation, said some residents in Magwe Region's Ngape township, on the regional border with Rakhine State, had not yet received compensation yet because of a dispute over the amount.

"The pipeline is ready to flow," he said. "But Ngape township from Magwe Region hasn't gotten [compensation] yet."

In Myay Latt village, residents refused to accept an offer of K22 million compensation for 20 acres of a community forest that was damaged, arguing the losses had been calculated incorrectly and should have been K140 million. The issue has been reported to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Thein Sein, and the group was to hold talks with Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) on July 12, community forest secretary Salai Pepe Kyaw said.

Two protests were also staged last week in two different parts of Ngape township by residents who said that they had not been paid compensation for land damaged during construction work.
One group of about 25 people protested at a pipeline valve station near Myay Latt, while another group of 50 to 100 residents protested at Gote See Yo. Residents said government officials had been promising to pay the compensation since February.

But some residents in Shan State's Kyaukme township have also allegedly missed out on compensation, said U Wai Dee Ya from the Northern Shan Farmers Committee.

U Wai Dee Ya said that while most villagers in Kyaukme had received compensation, in Naung Paing Gyi and Naing Paing Nge villages it had been taken by local officials. In another case, he said, the military seized land in Naung Phar village shortly before the pipeline project started and took the compensation paid by the Chinese firm.

"The township authorities and Chinese officer in charge of the site don't care about us. There is no progress even though we applied for compensation in a letter to the township authorities. Now we plan to try the President's Office," U Wai Dee Ya said.

Chinese publication Caixin recent quoted Lin Xixing, an associate professor at Jinan University's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, as saying that it was the Myanmar government's fault that some were missing out on compensation.

"The military government abused their power and skimped the land compensation fees to residents," he said.

The controversy comes after Myanmar state media announced on June 29 that gas would start flowing from the pipeline on July 1, more than a month behind schedule.

A spokesperson for South East Asia Gas Pipeline Company (SEAGP) and South East Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Company (SEAOP), the joint venture companies for the projects, said in all cases it had paid the required amount of compensation.

"[T]o our regret, the company has no right to decide who owns the land beyond Myanmar law if there are different opinions between the government (or military) and citizens," the spokesperson said.

While the spokesperson did not have details about the Kyaukme township complaints, she said that in Myay Latt township, MOGE reported that it forwarded the compensation to the Ministry of Forestry, which distributed the money to the landowners. MOGE said that the landowners rejected the offer and returned all the compensation.

"So in a word, it is not that we did not pay, the fact is that they wouldn't accept," the spokesperson said. "SEAGP and SEAOP have been attaching high importance to land compensation issue and work with respect to Myanmar laws and regulations. The company has published the data and info about land compensation several times."

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/07/13/compensation-still-in-the-pipeline/