Villagers affected by the junta’s latest scorched earth campaign in Shan State South in late July will be given Nargis model homes by the government relief team, local sources said.
The Chairman of Shan State (South) Peace and Development Council and Commander of Eastern Region Command Brig-Gen Ya Pyae has assigned the Shan State South’ s Mongnawng-based Military Operations Command # 2 Commander Col Kyaw Zan Myint that all houses must be made of wood and design must be as Nargis homes model, according to two separate sources.
Battalion commander of Mongpawn based Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #517 Major Kyaw Thu and Battalion commander of Loilem based Infantry Battalion (IB) #12 Major Kyaw Thura were charge of the construction project ordered by Col Kyaw Zan Myint. They were told to complete the construction within three months.
Both were frustrated with the order, said the source.
“He [Brig-Gen Ya Pyae] first ordered us to burn, now it is him again who ordered us to rebuild the homes. How we are going to show our faces to the villagers?” a source quoted one of the commanders as saying.
From 27 July- 1 August, 500 houses, more than 200 granaries in villages in Mongkeung, Laikha and Kehsi townships were burned down by the Burma Army units under the command of the MOC#2. And an estimated 10,000 villagers from almost 40 villages in the townships were forcibly relocated, according to Shan rights groups.
But in a public meeting, the junta told villagers that the campaign was not waged by their forces, it was the rebels. Sources close to the Burma Army confirmed that the order came from Brig-Gen Ya Pyae himself.
Currently, about 4 houses have already been built in Hokhai village tract in Mongkeung township. Affected houses in Hokhai village tracts were 125 houses. All houses were in the planned construction list. Those villages will be named as model villages after the construction is finished, the source said.
500 carpenters from Taunggyi are expected to be ordered to help with the construction. At present, about 50 carpenters are at the construction field, he said.
The junta said that the houses will be given to victims free of charge. But sources said that each household in nearby villages was ordered to provide a ton of timber for rebuilding houses. All timber logs must be delivered by the end of November, said a source.
Villagers are now staying in temporary shelters they built themselves.
During September, houses were already built with bamboos by junta authorities. But no one went to live as houses were too small for some big families as they were built in the same size and same model.
