4 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 8- 14, 2013
4 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 8- 14, 2013
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A bulldozer clears fields in Thanlyin township’ s Alwan Sut village that were seized from farmers by the Myanmar Navy. Photo: Ko Taik
MP says army will give unused confiscated land back to farmers
WIN KO KO LATT winkolatt2012 @ gmail. com
THE parliamentary land confiscation investigation committee will make arrangements to return unused farmland confiscated by the Tatmadaw to the original owners from this month, a committee member told The Myanmar Times last week.
“ Minister for Defence General Wai Lwin told commission chairman U Tin Htut, the Pyithu Hluttaw representative for Zalon, that the army will definitely give back farmlands confiscated by the army in July,” upper house representative U Hla Swe said.
“ The army will give back all farmland confiscated except that on which buildings have been constructed or are under construction,” he said.
He also urged farmers to carefully keep all records of land tax payments to prove their ownership. If they lost their records, the recommendation
247,077
The number of acres seized from farmers by the military since 1988, according to a parliamentary committee of four neighbours will be enough to establish ownership, he said.
The land confiscation investigation committee found that more than 247,077 acres has been taken by the military from farmers in Myanmar. It is unclear how much of this is in use and how much will be returned.
Nay Pyi Taw-based lawyer U Khin Mg Zaw, who helps farmers involved in land disputes, said he was“ very glad” that the Tatmadaw had agreed to return the land.
“ However, the government should also be watchful that ward and village administrators do not do anything untoward when the land is being given back,” he said.“ I hope that all farmland grabbed by the army is returned.”
Sources deny SSA extortion report in state media
NAN TIN HTWE nantin. htwe @ gmail. com
A NUMBER of sources have rejected a report in state-run media accusing the Shan State Army-South of extortion.
The June 5 report in the New Light of Myanmar and Myawady newspapers, headlined“ Yoma Bank( Muse) receives extortion letter”, said a motorcyclist presented a letter of extortion to a receptionist of Yoma Bank in Muse, northern Shan State, at 11am on July 4.
The report said the letter was from the SSA-South and its political wing, the Restoration Council of Shan State( RCSS). It demanded the bank pay K10 million( about US $ 10,000) to the group no later than July 14.
However, both the manager of the bank and an officer from Muse’ s police station said they had no idea where the report came from.
“ We didn’ t accept any extortion letter,” the Yoma Bank manager in Muse told The Myanmar Times on July 5.
The New Light of Myanmar report said that the bank opened a case at the police station. However, when The Myanmar Times contacted the police station in Muse, the police officer said they had not received a complaint from Yoma Bank.“ If that happened then they would have come to us,” he said by phone on July 5.
The Myawaddy report purportedly contained a photo of the letter with the RCSS / SSA stamp in the top-right corner with the name of a lieutenant colonel from the group’ s War Region 701.
A spokesperson for the Shan group, Sai Lao Saeng, said extortion was“ not RCSS / SSA policy. We did not do it.”
He said the group had lost control of War Region 701 during recent fighting with the Tatmadaw, adding that it was“ hard to control that region”.
“ In Shan State, there’ s the RCSS / SSA, Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army-North, Kachin Independence Army, Palaung army and also mafia gangs who traffick drugs,” he said.
Deputy Minister for Information U Ye Htut did not respond to requests for comment.
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Farmers level new allegations against Than Shwe’ s former PSO
Major General Soe Shein using land for limestone extraction and lime production business, say farmers
PYAE THET PHYO pyaethetphyo87 @ gmail. com
FRESH allegations have been levelled against former Senior General Than Shwe’ s personal staff officer, who is embroiled in a dispute with farmers over about 500 acres of land in Nay Pyi Taw’ s Lewe township.
Two farmers, U Ko Ko Naing and Ko Maung Win, submitted a formal complaint to several government ministries in early June alleging that Major General Soe Shein had broken land laws when applying for ownership of the land, which was officially listed as vacant.
As The Myanmar Times reported in April, they allege that Maj Gen Soe Shein did not state that there were objections to his application to establish ownership of the land.
However, they say that he has also violated land regulations by running a limestone excavation and lime production business on the land instead of cultivating perennial plants.
Maj Gen Soe Shein applied for 400 acres in 2010-11 and expanded his holdings to 500 acres in March of this year, they said.
The farmers lodged the complaint to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation’ s Central Committee for the Management of Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands, as well as the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry and the Ministry of Mines.
“[ Maj Gen Soe Shein ] never thinks about us, the people who have been farming this land for more than 20 years. He set up stone pillars on all four sides of the land to demarcate his ownership,” said U Ko Ko Naing, who is from Htone Pho village.
“ Under the law, you cannot apply for ownership of land that others are currently farming,” he said.
The Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law states that the committee is to coordinate to resolve disputes between concession holders and farmers. If negotiations fail, action must be taken under the law, it states.
Ko Maung Win said an official from the committee came and visited the site but no action has yet been taken.
“ We just want the relevant departments to settle it fair and square,” Ko Maung Win said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation said the ministry“ can’ t solve this problem” but would not elaborate.
Earlier this year both Ko Maung Win and U Ko Ko Naing were charged by police with mischief, trespass and criminal intimidation after Ko Soe Pe, acting on behalf of Maj Gen Soe Shein, filed a complaint against them. The case is still before the court.
The pair say they lost 60 acres when Maj Gen Soe Shein took their land. They said they have tax receipts showing they paid K8 and five pyars for each acre for the farming rights to the land to the township Settlement and Land Record Department in 2009 and 2010.
Maj Gen Soe Shein’ s assistant, Captain Hlaing Phyo Win, said he did not know anything about the case.“ This case is directly related to Maj Gen Soe Shein only,” he said.
– Translated by Thiri Min Htun