The Burmese military junta's plan to build a rail-road between the eastern Shan state of Kengtung and the southern Shan state of Namzang has frightened the villagers of Kengtung, who are apprehensive that their farms would be confiscated and they would be forced to work as labourers during the tenure of the construction, according to sources.
On October 26, Chairman of the Shan State Peace and Development Council, Commander of Eastern Command, Brig-Gen Ya Pyae, Minister of Rail Transport Maj-Gen Aung Min and Deputy Minister U Pe Than had paid a visit to examine the areas between Namzang and Kengtung for construction, according to the New Light of Myanmar.
The Namteng Creek running near Kholam and Nampan Creek at Kunhing were chosen as the construction sites, a local villager said on condition of anonymity. "They [junta] will build a rail-bridge over the creeks," he said.
On the following day, the Commander and the Ministers met Maj-Gen Kyaw Phyo, Commander of the Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command and selected the sites to construct the rail bridge on the Thanlwin (Salween) at Takaw Bridge and Tongta near Mongpiang.
The areas between Takaw and Mongpiang, 49 miles, are full of valleys and mountains. "Hundreds of villagers would be forced to work during the construction," predicted a villager.
Many people had died during the 102 mile-long Loikaw-Aungban railroad construction.
Afterwards, the junta officers inspected a site for a railway station near Kengtung University.
The areas near Kengtung University, which have been chosen for the station, are owned by farmers from Na Kham village, Keng Phawng village tract, a villager residing near Kengtung University said.
"We are afraid our farms and lands would be confiscated by them [authorities]. We do not know what to do," a farmer in Na Kham said.
There are many villages on the way from Namzang to Kengtung, for a distance of 208 miles. The railroad from Taunggyi to Namzang was completed only a few years earlier.
