Domar Village Adminstration Crew Extort Local Farmers for ‘Cultivation Fees’

June 20, 2014

The Domar Village administration crew from Domar Village, Mudon Township, has been entering and plowing its villagers’ farmland without the owners’ permission, in order to extort ‘cultivation fees’. Domar administration has been abusing its power and extorting villagers in this way for the past two years.

In May 2014, the Domar village administration crew plowed approximately 100 acres of farmland in Domar village without asking, or receiving, permission from the villagers to do so. Further, the administration crew demands 20,000 kyat per acre of plowed farmland. According to a local source, this process of extortion also took place last year.

“They (the village administration crew) should ask our farmers permission to plow the soil of farmland”, said a local Domar farmer, “They did not ask and inform us, but they asked [for] money after finishing plowing the soil. We (Domar farmers) paid them because we were forced to pay. They already plowed the soil, [and] we had to pay for machine fees. We had to work [the land] because it’s already plowed. [Village administrators] intimidated us [warning] us that if we did not work, upper authorities would act.

“We farmers were discontented”, the farmer says, “because we had to play for plowing fees but we could not work [on the land], so it’s a waste of money. They deliberately forced us to pay them. The village administrator should not extort us, [and] should stop [this practice] even if upper authorities did it to us. But now, the village administrator is proud to let this happen.”

Domar farmers explain that they know the process of farming very well, since they are the ones working on the farm, and that the upper authorities may not know how much it costs to farm the land, and how much profit there is.

The farmers explained that they hesitate to work on the farmland because the land is currently flooded by the Win Pha Non Dam. Farmers cannot rely on profits from their crops due to heaving raining and flooding. Therefore, they have chosen to halt the work on their farms.

Disregarding farmers’ authority over their lands, the village administration crew has cooperated with the Domar village administrator to plow the soil in order to extort money from the farmers, for the past two years. The village administrator hired the cultivating machine without any discussion with landowners.

Former Domar village vice-administrator Nai Shar, 45, explains; “The military confiscated the land orally, because they did not have proper contracts with other villages. I [had] discussed [this issue] with the land records department and the department accepted what we told them to do. I had asked the land records department that, if the military asked for land records, not to forward them to the military. After knowing [our actions] the military confiscated our lands orally. They did not ask us to sign [anything]. The confiscated land was [returned] to landowners last year. Now, the village administration crew plowed the soil and forced landowners to pay for it. Most landowners are dissatisfied with this issue.”

According to Nai Shar, after the Win Pha Non Dam was built, there was often flooding on about 100 acres of farmland. Farms were covered with massed grass, and farmers could not afford to have it removed, therefore, the farms were left untouched. By illustrating that the farmers did not work their lands, the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 209 confiscated about 50 of the 100 acres of farmland in 2006.

The military returned the confiscated farmland to Domar farmers in 2013, but farmers have encountered difficulty working the land due to flooding from the dam. With the land untouched, the village administration crew began plowing the soil and planting rice grain, and began demanding 30,000 kyat from villagers for plowing and planting grain.

According to Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) data reports, approximately 200 acres of farmland in Mudon Township was confiscated in 2006 by LIB No. 209.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News