The Mon Unity Party (MUP) told the Than Lwin Times that it will make efforts to ensure that local residents are not harmed regarding the land on which the international-class airport and port projects will be built near Mawlamyine.
The Mon State’s military council has allocated land to build an international-class airport near Kawtparan village, Mudon Township, and an international port between Balauk Nyaung Wyne and Wekali village, near the sea outlet of Mudong Township.
Local residents are worried that their land will be confiscated due to the military council's international airport and port projects.
The spokesperson for the Mon Unity Party (MUP), Nai Than Shwe, stressed that although land confiscations may occur from the airport and port projects, they will be carried out in accordance with the law to protect farmers.
The Central Committee for Project Implementation, comprised of Union Ministers, was formed by the military council on December 10 of last year in order to develop an international-class airport and port near Mawlamyine.
The local authorities have already been given instructions by the regime to focus on property acquisition, access to power, road development, and budget allocations.
The regime’s spokesperson for Mon State Council U Aung Kyi Thein told Than Lwin Times that more than 4,600 acres of land have been allocated for the projects.
But he claimed that the land compensation for the project area is still being calculated and the amount of compensation to be paid per acre has not yet been decided.
On July 11, the Mon State Hluttaw Representative Committee declared that the military council's plan was only a dictatorial effort for a handful of individuals and that it was illegal to seize, sell, or handover their land because it was not an official government.
The Mon Unity Party is a state-based ethnic political party representing the Mon people, and joined the military council after the military coup. The party representatives, Dr. Banya Aung Moe and Nai La Yi Tama now serve as members of the military council at the union level and the state level, respectively.
