Children negotiate a barbed-wire topped wall built by the military as they make their way to school in Bago Township on September 24. Photo: Su Su Nway/Farmers' Union
The residents of eight villages in Bago Township have complained of disruption to their lives after the military built walls around 5,800 acres of land where they live and farm.
A resident of one of the villages, U San Shwe, told Mizzima on September 24 that the walls began being erected early this year.
The walls had made it difficult to leave the villages and children had to climb over them to get to school, U San Shwe said.
He alleged that the land had been seized by the military for artillery training and storing ordnance in 1996. Villagers were told at the time they had temporary permission to continue farming the land, U San Shwe said.
Farmers' Union activist Ma Su Su Nway told Mizzima the military should compensate those affected by the compulsory seizure of the land.
Meanwhile, Deputy Defence Minister General Kyaw Nyunt told the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on September 24 that the military has so far returned 32,000 acres to its former owners on the instructions of the Farmland Investigation Commission.
The military had also voluntarily surrendered another 170,000 acres, Gen Kyaw Nyunt said.
“Some land was taken because of security issues, some was taken because it contained military-owned factories and workshops, and some land was idle but was planned by the military to be developed," he told parliament.
