The Burmese Army authorities are not providing permission to clear forests and sow rice saplings without taking tax from the people in Chin state western Myanmar .

 A report said that the Matupi based IB (304) has ordered all farmers to pay tax for rice cultivation to the tune of Kyat 20,000 per land as the military has already occupied the particular stretch in Ngala block.

 “The land belonged to our ancestors. But the military has seized it and added it to its territory as it was very close to their camp. They came up with an excuse that their camp would be burnt if farmers set fire bushes to clean the area to sow rice seeds,” said a local.

 The settlers in Ngala block had already cleared over100 acres of the forest in January, but the military stopped them and asked them to pay tax first before cultivation.

 In Chin state, people are totally dependent on rice as it is their staple food. Now they are facing the problem of paying tax – money or rice -- to the authorities of the Matupi based military. They cannot survive without cultivating rice, he added.

 “The farmers do not have any rights without paying the tax. So we give all we have, whatever they demand from us,” he added.

 Similarly, the Forest Department in Falam has collected Kyat 2000 an acre from Auhmun, Palte, Laizawl, Tilum and Lumte villages as land and wood taxes in the first month of this year.

A report said that the Falam District Peace and Development Council (DPDC) had told the Forest and Revenue Departments not to collect taxes on land and wood in 2008. But the collection continues in some villages, located far from the town.