Eyewitnesses have reported that last Saturday, 7th March, some of the seized vehicles which were stored at the Southeast Command base in Moulmein were sent on large car transporters to the industrial zone outside the city, on the road to Hpa-an.
According to one of the eyewitnesses, the vehicles were taken to several mechanic shops in the zone while others were taken to mechanics in Moulmein. Many of the vehicles were repaired and the best were repainted in army colors and intended for the army’s own use. It is not known what will happen to the other vehicles but last month several inferior cars and trucks, seized in 2004, were put up for auction by Southeast Command in Moulmein.
A Moulmein resident who went to Naypyidaw said, “Many of seized vehicles were changed to army colors. When I went there I saw it. The army is currently using many of them.”
The resident said general directors and the central level from the defense department were more favored than civilian departments at Naypyidaw.
Another eyewitness said that the seized vehicles were transported continually from the Southeast Command base for two full days. He added,” the authorities plan to give some of the seized vehicles to professors and lecturers.”
A further source agreed, saying that the authorities do not intend to give the seized vehicles only to the Burmese army and government civilian departments. This was confirmed by a Moulmein University teacher who said that professors from Mawlamyine University had already accepted some seized vehicles a month ago, with a free car offered to a professor from each department.
In last month’s auction of seized vehicles Southeast Command offered around 180 sub standard cars and 41 motorbikes. More than a thousand illegal vehicles from local residents and the cease-fire groups have been seized since 2003-2004 and stored at the Southeast Command base after the Burmese regime implemented a new law where those who own illegal cars and goods imported from neighboring countries could face three years in prison.
