Artillery battalion collects tax on rubber plant

January 18, 2007

Residents of Mon State in Burma who are close to the army battalions are also not free from trouble created by the military authorities. For instance, even though rubber plantation owners have paid money to the battalion as rubber plant tax they are not treated differently. According to a plantation owner, the Burmese Artillery Regiment No.318 based near Ab-bit village in Mudon Township, Mon State collected money from owners among Ab-bit village at the rate of about Kyat 500 per plant.

The area has about 200 acres of plantations. Now about four owners have paid the tax. Most owners are watching the situation and wondering whether they should pay. This tax is taken twice a year, the owner said. However, the battalions have not started collecting taxes from land owners who are close to the town yet. According to land tax laws for rubber plantations, the plantation owner must ask for annual interest at the end of the year, after they get the land for 30 years. A plantation owner in Mudon Town said, “We must shut down scraping liquid rubber if we have to pay rubber plant tax again to the battalions.” Now rubber plantation owners have hired workers for about Kyat 1,400 per acre a day. Some owners hired workers by paying half the income they make from their products. Wages for hiring people have also increased by about Kyat 400 compared to last year. The price of good rubber flat is about Kyat 1,000 per pound. The middle grade is about Kyat 750 and the low grade is about Kyat 500. Good rubber flat was priced at about Kyat 1,300 last year. “Trading and selling rubber flat is no longer so profitable.”

In addition, some rubber plantations near Ab-bit village where the artillery battalion collected the money in Mudon, were confiscated. About 100 acres were seized by the artillery battalion and about 50 acres of pasture in the west of Kamawet village was taken away by the township authorities in 1998.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News