Myanmar military promises compensation for seized land

Published on Thursday, 31 January 2013 17:16

Myanmar's defence services will continue to pay compensation for the seized land, Vice Quartermaster General Major General Min Naing unveiled during a meeting with the commission for investigation into seized farmlands and estate land yesterday.  

Many people whose farmlands were seized have sent hundreds of complaints to the Quartermaster General's Office and the Defene Services Commander-in-Chief's Office while parliamentarians have asked about the issue many times in parliament.

After the review of the complaints, the military have paid 999.258 million kyats (US$1.16m) in compensation for 1,951.9 acres of seized land, including for the losses of crop plantations.   

The investigation commission has also received over 500 complaints against land grabbing by the military and out of them, more than 300 have yet to be taken care of.    

Ten teams formed by the commission are investigating the matter in respective regions and states.
However concerned authorities are not very willing to cooperate in that matter, according to commission chairman Tin Htut.   

Tin Htut also called on the Quartermaster General's Office to review the army's seized land areas, some of which are not militarily owned while some have been seized for commercial purposes.

"Some people say that a nation should have armed forces for national defence. They are willing to give their own land free of charge if military buildings are to put up there. But they cannot bear seizing and using their land for commercial purposes," said the commission chairman.

Section 4 of the Burma Land Acquisition Act passed in 1894 states that whenever it appears to government that land in any locality is needed or is likely to be needed for any public purposes, a notification to that effect, shall be published in the Gazette.