30 July 2010: The municipality in Hakha Township, Chin state, western Burma is collecting a high rate of tax this year from people to provide them drinking water. It will renovate an existing drinking water pool.

The civic authorities are collecting excess tax from people in Hakha town for renovating the ‘Revolution Pond’ as it called for the town.

Last year, the municipality had collected Kyat 1500 as building and land tax, Kyat 3500 as water tax, Kyat 300 for street lights and Kyat 300 as garbage tax. But now in 2010, it is collecting Kyat 2000 for building and land tax, Kyat 4800 as water tax, Kyat 500 for street lights and Kyat 500 as garbage tax.

The tax for buildings and land is meant for wooden houses on one acre with gardens down town. Those with houses in the centre of the town used to pay up to Kyat 1 lakh as building and land tax. It depended on the location and the kind of building.

“We used to pay Kyat 1 lakh per year as building and land tax, Kyat 13,000 for water, Kyat 10,000 for street lights and Kyat 20,000 for garbage,” said a house owner in Pyidawta block in the heart of Hakha town.

The renovation of the ‘Revolution Pond’ was ordered by the divisional command commander of Burma who donated Kyat 50 lakhs. The authorities took Kyat 6000 from families in Hakha town apart from the sanctioned amount from the government. Yet the civic authorities are collecting excessive tax from the people, said local people.

The width of the ‘Revolution Pond’ also locally called Tawhlanye Yekan’ is about 2000 feet and more than 10,000 people from six blocks in Hakha town depend on it for their drinking water supply.