Ye Residents Face Extortion from Civil Groups During Construction Projects

May 9, 2014

When Residents of Ye Township build new houses, they are forced to comply with extortion practices of the Municipal Committee Group. Earlier this year the Municipal Committee Group stopped Nay Aung Myint, 50, owner of the Su Mon Furniture Factory, from finishing construction of his house, until he paid the committee. Nai Aung Myint is a wealthy member of the Ye Township, Mon State community, and donates generously to the people of the area.

Ye residents are banned from finishing any house building projects, unless they receive permission from upper level government authorities. Nai Aung Myint was forced to halt construction of his new home when he was directed to pay tax for the building. The committee has only allowed him to construct two-stories of his four-story design. If he wants to finish construction, Nai Aung Myint must submit a letter to the upper level government authorities and in order to receive permission, he must pay extortion fees to the Municipal Committee group.

“Before building this house, I drafted my own design”, explains Nai Aunt Myint, “I designed it to have four-stories. I decided to construct the house as I had designed, but the Municipal Committee Group told me that I could not build my house unless I bought the design drawn by their engineer.

“I replied to them that I wanted to use my own design, but [the] Municipal Committee Group said their engineer would draw the same design as mine, and then I had to buy it”, Nai Aung Myint says.

In the end, he had to buy back his own design, drawn by the Municipal Committee Group, for 55,000 kyat. But the extortion doesn’t stop there. Nai Aung Myint says that the Municipal Committee Group will demand a percentage of the total cost of his house, which they will enforce as house tax.

Extortion of this kind has existed throughout Ye Township for a long time now. The Municipal Committee Group and the Revenue Department demand a percentage of the total amount one spends on his or her house and constantly tax residents who are preparing to fix their houses, or build new houses.

Written by Modinator · Filed Under News