Former civil servants protest land decision

Former civil servants protest land decision

By Phyo Wai Kyaw and Si Thu Lwin   |   Sunday, 26 January 2014

Retired staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation in Mandalay are contesting a recent government decision to return a prime piece of ministry-owned land to three men who claim to be the rightful owners.

Agriculture ministry officials in Mandalay are contesting the decision to return a ministry-owned plot of land on this stretch of Theikpan Road, between 67th and 68th streets, to those who say they are its rightful owners. (Phyo Wai Kyaw/The Myanmar Times)

At a press conference on January 14, the officials said the trio's claim - concerning 7.9 acres along Theikpan Road, the main road connecting Myothit ward in Maha Aung Myay township and the city's downtown area – is based on cancelled grants that should never have been issued in the first place.

"We have called for another check because we want the best for our former department," said U Aung Kyin, a former manager of Myanma Agriculture Service in Mandalay Region who retired in 2008. "We have no intention of causing someone to suffer."

Land records show the area was government owned from 1907. In 1994, however, the then-minister for agriculture and irrigation, Major General Myint Aung, ordered the formation of the Agriculture Supervisory Committee, which then oversaw the sale of the land.

When the minister was fired in 1998, the deputy minister, Major General Khin Maung, called the buyers - U Kyaw Wai, U Aik Saik and U San Wai Chin – and told them the grants in their hands were illegal, and cancelled them without compensation.

U Kyaw Wai sued U Aung Kyin in 2006 for the return of the lands but a Mandalay Region court dismissed the litigation on February 28, 2008. A further appeal to the high court was unsuccessful, the retired Myanma Agriculture Service officials said.

But on December 3, 2013, the President's Office ordered Mandalay Region's Department of Agriculture to "give back the 10 plots in accordance with procedure" following a survey of the area.

The retired officials have sent the case to a number of government bodies, including the president, since the decision was announced. At first they lobbied anonymously, without disclosing names, but now they are going public. They have also submitted it to the parliament's land dispute investigation commission.

"The deputy minister for agriculture and irrigation and the director general of the Department of Agriculture now know the real situation," said U Aung Kyin. "But we don't know yet how senior officials will decide because we are not in direct communication with them."

The three men who bought the land could not be reached for comment last week.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/01/29/former-civil-servants-protest-land-decision/