Maungdaw, Arakan: Authorities in Maungdaw Township seized 32.66 acres of arable land from farmers of Oo Shaikya (Buraseikdarpara) and Dou Dan (Loodaing) Villages, Northern Maungdaw on June 23. The villagers have become land less as a result, said a farmer.  

The order was issued by U Hla Win, Chairman of the District Peace and Development Council, or DPDC and U Khin Maung Htut, Chairman of Township Peace and Development Council, orTPDC.

The Chairmen of Village Peace and Development Council ,or VPDC of the villages, Khin Maung Than alias Abul Kalam, living in Maungdaw, told villagers that he will return all the farm land, but he needs 15,000 to 20,000 Kyats from each farmer whose farm land had been confiscated on July 12, said a close aide of the chairman.

The VPDC chairman collected 7.5 million Kyat and he paid 6 million Kyats to the DPDC chairman, he added.

The villagers of both villages were waiting to cultivate paddy in the rain season, but till now the VPDC's chairman has not been able to give back the land or the money. So the farmers of both villages suffered doubly.