Maungdaw: Instead of the characteristic use of forced labour for the construction of embankments for fencing the Bangladesh border, Burmese military authorities are employing a new tactic, said a village chairman in Maugndaw Township.

"The army authorities have constructed embankments along the border area stretch by stretch, but they are not using forced labour as they usually do. They have forced all village chairmen in the areas to pay the wages of residents working at the construction site of the embankments," he said.

The construction of embankments for the border fence is being undertaken in the region by GE, the army engineering battalion, led by Colonel Kan Chun.

"The army authorities seem to be worried about local people complaining if they use forced labour for the construction of the embankments. So it has avoided using forced labour, but we have been ordered to pay the daily wages of the workers," the chairman said.

As such many village chairmen in Maungdaw Township now have to pay wages for workers by collecting money from other locals, mostly businessmen and smugglers.

According to a local source, the engineering battalion has been
stationed along the border to build the fence, but have been divided into smaller groups and placed at distances of five miles from each other. Before erecting the fence, the army is constructing the embankments on which the fences will be erected.

Meanwhile, the Burmese Army is also transporting rock from Buthidaung to Maungdaw to build the concrete pillars that will be used for the fencing. Many villagers have been used as porters to carry the material. However, the army authorities are paying wages to these villagers.

According to local sources, prisoners in Buthidaung are being used at the quarry site, located near the Buthidaung - Maungdaw motor road, which is producing stone for use in the border fencing.