Govt urged to act on 'land grabbing'

Parliament has urged the government to solve land-grabbing issues transparently before the beginning of the monsoon season when farmers plant their crops. 

This comes after a report from the Farmland Investigation Commission, which uncovered 745  cases of land seizure. According to the report, more than 500,000 acres of land has been grabbed by the army, expanding urban areas and industrial zones and private agricultural projects. 

“If parliament, the governing body and judiciary don’t solve these issues, how they can represent the people?” said parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann. “Are they a people-centred government? If we don’t deal with the issues right now and quickly, how we can have the trust of the people. What we are doing needs transparency. We need to take responsibility for what we have done.” 

The government has yet to take action on the report and has promised to return farmers their land. No land has been returned to their rightful owners yet. 

Many land appropriations happened as long as 50 years ago and may have already been dealt with. The Land Utilisation Management Central Committee led by vice president Nyan Tun is dealing with the cases.

The speaker also urged government officials to cooperate if they respect and value the people. The government needs to implement the report ratified by parliament and needs to report back in accordance with Section 228 of the constitution.

Meanwhile, military MP Lt-Colonel Saw Shwe told parliament that it was the responsibility of Ministry of Home Affairs to return land formerly seized by the military.

The military made it clear that it had returned grabbed land to the ministry of home affairs and not to the original owners. Saw Shwe added that farmers being charged for illegally ploughing grabbed farmland will not face legal action once they get their lands back.

“They may face legal action for now. But when they receive their land back, legal action will end,” he said. “The ministry of defence has already returned two rounds of farmland which were grabbed under an order from the Ministry of Home Affairs. It returned them to the ministry. The process for returning the land to the rightful owners may be delayed as the ministry has to scrutinise whether they are the real owners or not.” 

Saw Shwe added that there may be some problems, such as reselling land belonging to original owners who passed away, which may cause delays in the process.

“The army returned them already. I also told other MPs about it. Relevant authorities should be asked about whether the original owners have got their lands back in townships across the country.” 

The colonel’s comments come in the wake of widespread government criticism after a parliamentary investigation into land appropriated by the military. The government has vowed to return grabbed land not being used for national projects, but so far no action has been taken.   

In the meantime land seizures and evictions continue and many farmers are facing legal action for “squatting” on land that was formerly theirs.