The Burmese Army in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state in northern Burma is dividing army land between its men through a lucky dip system for family use, a source close to the army said.

Officers and soldiers of the Infantry Battalion (Kha-La-Ya) No. 29, based near Pa-La-Na village, 16 km (10 miles) north of Myitkyina have earmarked the land in the Rampu quarter.  Each member of the army unit had to draw lots for the land, the source said.

Senior officers of the battalion received 60' x 80' (4,800 sq-ft) land and the lower ranking personnel got 40' x 60' (2,400 sq-ft) in the Rampu quarter. They have to pay only 10,000 Kyat (US $ 9) for the land, she said.

"Some soldiers who are close to high ranking officers got good sections of the land being disbursed. Some of them now want to sell the land to make money," she added.

According to the source, before the army officers acquired ownership of the land in Rampu quarter through lottery, it was a sugar cane farm. The army cultivated sugar cane on the land as a part of the self reliance policy of the junta for the army. 

The Infantry Battalion No. 29 moved near Pa-La-Na village in 2006 and before that it was based in Zi Lun (Zion) quarter in Myitkyina.