Appropriated land that is unused must be returned, FIC says
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Farmland appropriated for development, military bases or other projects should be returned to their owners if the projects did not go ahead, according to a draft report from the Farmland Investigation Commission.
The report is the result of several months of investigation by the commission into cases of alleged land grabs across the nation. Sources said it would be submitted to Parliament during the current session.
The draft report by the commission, which was formed by the Union Assembly in August, calls for greater controls on the military’s appropriation of land, recommending that land seized for a base should be commensurate with the size of the unit that would use it.
The draft report also calls for clearer guidelines to govern land appropriation, including compensation rates. Rates paid to farmers should be equivalent to the market price and local authorities should provide input into the setting of compensation rates, the draft report says.
It also calls for farmland seized near military compounds to be returned to farmers if it was grabbed by soldiers or their families for personal use.
Chairman of the commission Tin Htut said the report would assist those involved in land disputes and help provide legal advice to those who faced land grabs in the future.
In a sign of increasing concern over the military’s reputation for grabbing land, a senior officer, Maj-General Min Naing, last month pledged that the military would compensate those whose land had been seized.
The surging price of land is fuelling land grabs, activists said. The price of farmland in Yangon Region has risen tenfold over the past three years, according to farmers.
