Over 200 residents staged a protest in the Kayah State’s capital Loikaw on April 23 demanding the return of military confiscated land and denounced corrupt civil servants.
The residents of Ma Htaw Khu and Zayat Phyu villages marched on the streets in Loikaw to demand the Tatmadaw Regional Operations Command (Loikaw) to release the land that have been seized since 2007.
The farmers are unsatisfied with the local authorities for issuing a land use certificate (Form 7) to U Tun Shwe, a former commander of the Military Affairs Security Unit, also known as Sa Ya Pha, after the land near Lawpita Village was seized by the ROC.
The Kayah State Hluttaw investigated this land issue in its early days and submitted it to the Kayah State government.
However, the chief minister has only kept the issue as a record, according to Naw Hal Ka Lo Htoo, a protester.
During a meeting with the farmers, the chief minister told them that the Land Management and Statistics Department has made the right decision in issuing Form 7, Naw Hal Ka Lo Htoo said.
“We can’t accept the one-sided [decision] to give our land to another person. We explained about it. The chief minister didn’t accept it. He said we can complain with the memorandum if we want,” she explained.
“There’s no way U Tun Shwe obtained over 200 acres. He abused his right and authority,” she claimed.
U Tin Shwe, vice-chair of the Central Executive Committee of the People’s Party of Myanmar Farmers, said his party has submitted the issue to the state government two months ago but it still has not receive any response.
“[The government] neglected to do an official investigation and it allowed U Tun Shwe to win [the land] after only investigating the people from the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings as if the land has already been registered at the department,” U Tin Shwe commented.
