Dawei Farmers Only Offered House Plot to Replace Three Acres of Confiscated Farmland

Thursday, June 5th, 2014

Dawei Town Farmers and Government Officials

Khitar Non – The Tenasserim Division Government offered farmers a small household plot of land for every three acres of farmland they confiscated for a civic project in Dawei Town.

Some farmers who lost land and some who did not even get given household plots in compensation were not satisfied and had arguments with the authorities according to U Tun Tun Win chairman of the Dawei based Farmers and Plantation Workers Union.

In an interview with IMNA he said: "The farmers are not permitted to work on their old paddy fields. The farmers who lost their land have had it reassigned as household plots but the farmers do not accept this. They do not want their paddy field land reassigned."

He also said that though farmers had sent a letter and petition about the issue of land confiscation to the relevant government department and President Thein Sein they had not received a response. Also, some farmers who lost land received nothing in compensation when the remaining land was returned to farmers. This had left farmers dissatisfied.

U Tun Tun Win said: "Today, about 30 farmers are sitting down in the road. Some farmers are afraid of having their land seized and have set up temporary makeshift huts where they are waiting, but no one from the government has come [today]."

U Tin Maung who had his farmland taken away said: "It is still good to get back whatever we can as we have already lost [the land], but it is sad for those farmers who had land confiscated and got no land in compensation."

In 2013 the Tenasserim Division Ministers confiscated about 300 acres of farmland for the Dawei civic project, to be used for the construction of a private hospital, ministry and government buildings and some houses for locals. Of the 300 acres seized only 100 acres have been used for construction. The rest of the farmland has been marked off as 40×60 ft household plots which are to be given to farmers.

Last February the Union Hluttaw (parliament) declared that the Union Government would resolve all the issues over land confiscations throughout the country by the end of September 2014

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Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/06/05/dawei-farmers-only-offered-house-plot-to-replace-three-acres-of-confiscated-farmland/