Maungdaw: People are being forced to work at a government rubber plantation since 21 March, with promises of distributing land to them by the military junta authorities in Maungdaw Township.

"We have to work on the plantation without any wage, but the authorities told us they will allocate some land from the rubber plantation for those who are working after the work is completed," the villager said.

Villagers from Vasali model village located on the outskirts of Maungdaw are now being summoned by the local village council every day, on the orders of District Chairman U Hla Win, to work on the rubber plantation.

"Usually we have to work to clear land and we are also cutting bushes on the land. About 50 people from our village have to work every day on the work site," The villager said.

The rubber plantation project is being implemented by the local authorities and it is part of a nationwide project by the military regime. The junta has plans to cultivate 10,000 acres of rubber plants in the Mayu Range, which spans the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathidaung in northern Arakan State.

The plantation is near golf links and Kandaw Gyi Lake of Maungdaw, and the villagers go to the area to work every day, taking with them their own food.

"We do not want to work there because we have not received any wages from them. The authorities will allocate land for us in the future, not now, but we just need food for survival," a woman villager said.

Most villagers are day labourers and are now facing difficulties of daily survival because they are unable to take other opportunities to work for wages in other locations.

It has also been learnt that local authorities had earlier forced people to work on government projects with such promises for the future, but the promises are hardly fulfilled by the authorities after the work is done.