Land destruction looks set to continue in path of Thanbyuzayat to Three Pagodas Pass road

June 17, 2013

HURFOM: For the last two years construction has been underway on a 64.5 mile road, linking Thanbyuzayat in Mon State to the Thai-Burma border town of Three Pagodas Pass in Karen State. In a new move, the government’s Ministry of Construction Department, based in Burma’s capital Naypyidaw, has contracted out parts of the construction to 7 private companies: Dragon Power, Marn Pyi Tagon, Swan Ar Pyae, King General, May Lin Aye, 3K Star Power, and Shwe Chaung Zone Development. With HURFOM investigations suggesting that 280 acres of land have already been destroyed as a result of the project, villagers living along the road’s path have expressed concerns about what this latest development will mean for their land.

As it stands, the first 4 and final 9 miles of the road will respectively be constructed by the Public Construction Department from Moulmein and Kawkareik districts. The remainder of the road, which crosses more challenging stretches of landscape, will be given more specialised attention by the 7 contracted private companies (undertaking work on miles 25 to 56 of the road), in addition to a major construction division from the Public Construction Department (working on miles 4 to 25).

Unfortunately for residents, fears for their land may not be unfounded.
Construction by the 7 private companies is to be co-ordinated by U San Lwin, the chief engineer of the Public Construction Department (a sub-division of the Ministry of Construction Department), in line with directives issued to him from above. Reports allege that on 7 June, 2013 he was commanded by the Border Security Affairs minister, Col. Aung Lwin, to focus singlehandedly on the construction of the road, even where this is at the expense of residents’ land.

A Public Construction Department junior engineer, 38, from Moulmein District, illustrated the department’s view on the matter,” The main job is to finish the road. We have to complete this construction project as Col. Aung Lwin, the Border Security Affairs minister, has ordered us. I think that not much land will be affected along the way. Some plantations will be affected when we straighten out the old road. The residents should tolerate some occasional cases [of land destruction] for the sake of their area’s development. I think their [resident’s] living standards will be improved if the road is completed.”

However, many local residents do not share this opinion. In particular, they have voiced complaints about land being destroyed without any compensation being issued. One 65-year-old Karen farmer from Lay Poe village, located in Karen State’s Kyainnsiekyi Township, told HURFOM that he has lost almost half of his land, which is positioned at the 52.3 mile point of the road. “They have already dug the land many times with their bulldozers to straighten it [the old road] out. The original size of my plantation was 5.8 acres, and only 3.2 acres is left. If they work on the road again, I worry that my Betel Nut plantation will be affected again. If they gave compensation then we would be satisfied, but they did not even ask me [about compensation] when they entered my plantation to dig up the land. If my plantation is destroyed again I will submit to the Karen group [the Karen National Union].”

Whilst in the past affected residents were left without any authority to lodge their complaints with, the Karen National Union (KNU) has now begun to liaise with farmers on the issue.

A former KNU member from Kyainnsiekyi Township criticised both the government and private companies for failing to take into account the effect of their actions on local residents, “Nothing is good if it affects the public’s livelihood, whether it is for the government or private business. They [the government and private companies] should at least take responsibility for their actions. The government is acting just like before. They never show concern for the public when they want to complete their projects. Furthermore, [private] company employees also pressure local people if they get orders from above. This should not be the habit any more. Most residents here count on their plantations for their daily livelihood. Even if one inch of land is affected they lose income. Since they started straightening [the old road] last year a lot of plantations along the way have been affected.”

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News