Farmers campaign over decades-old land feud

Farmers campaign over decades-old land feud

By Phyo Wai Kyaw   |   Monday, 29 July 2013

Farmers in Mandalay's Amarapura township are banding together to correct what they say is an injustice from Myanmar's socialist period.

They are calling on the authorities to return 4 acres of farmland to a 76-year-old woman, Daw Tin Oo, that was confiscated from her in 1985 because she could not give the required 50 baskets of paddy to the government. The decision consigned Daw Tin Oo to decades of poverty, they say, with casual labour her only source of income.

The land was taken by Thar Lar Aye village's administrative department, which is renting it to other farmers for K300,000 an acre.

Two other farmers who lost their land under the same circumstances had it returned to them several years later, after the collapse of the socialist regime. However, the authorities have refused to relinquish Daw Tin Oo's land.

"For many years officials from Thar Lar Aye's administration office have benefited from Daw Tin Oo's farmland, while she has struggled and faced many troubles," said farmer U Nay Win.

Twenty farmers from the area have now signed a letter requesting the land be returned and sent it to the appropriate departments, including the President's Office, said U Win Naing, 45, from Tamotesoe village.

"At that time, farmers needed to give 45 baskets of paddy an acre to the government after harvest season. This created many hardships for farmers.

"I was just a young at that time. You could blame Daw Tin Oo if she was not a hard worker but the crop yield depends on the weather and the type of soil. Because of this decision, Daw Tin Oo has been in trouble for many years. Just look at her face. You can see how tired and poor she is," he said.

Daw Tin Oo said she had lost everything by the time she was forced to give up her fields.

"I needed to give 50 baskets from my farms to the government … but I had nothing left to give, even after I sold my cows as well. The farmers here urged me to try to get back my land. They told me that other farmers are also getting back their land nowadays," she said.

But U Thein Bo, from the Thar Lar Aye village administration office, said that Daw Tin Oo's former land generated money for the whole village.

"We use the money for different things in the village," he said.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/08/03/farmers-campaign-over-decades-old-land-feud/