Corruption and arbitrary taxation on road repairs in Hangan

July 15, 2009

HURFOM: The Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) in Hangan village collected money from villagers for road repairs.

According to a resident of the Southern Ye Township, Mon State village, on the first week of July, the VPDC chairman and various members collected 5,000 kyat from every household in Hangan village for the cost of repairs.

Last year, the VPDC collected only 3,000 kyat per household for road repairs but sources told HURFOM that the money was spent but the road was never repaired.

Hangan village has about 3,000 households and most of the villagers own rubber and betel nut plantations. They can earn quite a good income, said a 45-year-old villager.

However, she added that excessive taxation rates make this prosperous life unattainable: “I have to give any kind of taxes demanded by authority and insurgent groups and all the income I earn from our plantations is not enough for the taxes; two of my sons have migrate to Thailand to support my family.”

According to another villager, every household in Hangan village has to send their teenage children to Thailand to support their families as migrant workers, oftentimes against their will or desire.

“I have to pay to the VPDC at least 10,000 kyat per month. The authority comes and collects it every month—security fees, porter fees, militia fees, many kind fees,” said a 60-year-old villager from Hangan.

A villager close to VPDC members told a HURFOM reporter that all the money collected for road repairs were used by the VPDC chairman and high-ranking police officers in Hangan; that is why the road wasn’t repaired in the past.

The VPDC chairman and other members collected again for road repair, but no one believes that the road will be repaired: all the money will disappear again, said another Hangan villager under condition of anonymity.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News