Kyauk Pru: Villagers from Goonshein Village in Kyaukpru in western Burma's Arakan State say they will reclaim their public cooperative land that was confiscated and sold to the Daewoo Company by Maung Oo, the former commander of the state.
They said the land will be necessary for them as they are preparing to form an agricultural producers cooperative society under the poverty alleviation program initiated by the new U Thein Sein regime.
U Maung Oo confiscated the land while he was serving as the commander of our state without the villagers' consent and transferred the land title to his wife Daw Nyaunt Nyaunt Oo before selling it to the Daewoo Company last year at a price of 45 million Kyat," one of the village elders said, adding, "Now we need the land because we are preparing to form an agricultural producers' cooperative in village according to the poverty alleviation program of the current government."
He said the land was commonly-owned cooperative land in the Goonshein Village just five miles from Kyaukpru Town, and the villagers had a coconut plantation on the land.
A resident from downtown Kyaukpru also said the matter was well known among townspeople and officials, and they were still dissatisfied over the confiscation with U Maung Oo, the former regional commander and home minister during the tenure of the last regime.
"Maung Oo arrived here last year along with his wife and his followers and sold the land to Daewoo at the police guest house in Kyaukpru. This is a well known matter in Kyaukpru, not only among officials, but also among the public, and the people are still dissatisfied with him for selling the poor villagers' land to the company for his own profit," said the resident.
The villagers said they are now preparing to reclaim their land with the help of local lawyers, politicians, and educated youth for their village cooperative that will be formed soon.
According to local sources, Maung Oo also has acres of farmland and gardens that were confiscated from the villagers of Minpyin Village in Kyaukpru and registered under the name of his wife at the local department of land registration.
Similarly, the former regional commanders of Arakan State, Win Myint and Thiha Thura Maung Ni, also have lands that were confiscated in Minpyin Village and registered under their wives' names.
The lands were fenced off and are now being safeguarded by Infantry Battalion 34 deployed in Kyaukpru, said the sources.
