Big farmers protest over govt failure

Over 1,000 farmers staged a protest on Saturday over the government’s failure to prevent or adequately resolve land grabs.

Farmers from various townships in Ayeyawady Region including Maubin, Kyaiklat, Pyapon, Dedaye, Labutta, Mawkyun, Bokalay, Zalun, and Hinthada townships participated in the protest to express their dissatisfaction over the confiscation of farmland.

Kyi Lwin, an advocate for farmers, said: “Farm land was not confiscated in accordance with the law, but officials kept repeating that things were done ‘in accordance with the law’ when land was seized. Actually, the farmers are not educated and they don't know the laws. But we have seen the Farmland Management Committee using this information to delay the return of [confiscated] farmland.”

The protest aimed to highlight official mismanagement of confiscated farmland. Farmers from various townships claimed they have not received land even though they were listed for the allocation of blocks in unused areas. When companies or ministries rent confiscated areas, the land is usually not rented to the original farmers, but others. 

They also protested over the inclusion of township administrators and land records department officials, who were involved in the original land confiscation, on the Farmland Management Committee, which handles the allocation of unused land.

 “Over 50,000 farm blocks have been confiscated in Maubin,” said Lower House MP Sein Win. “The people who confiscated the land are on the Farmland Management Committee, so it’s like the culprit is also serving as the judge – and he can rule on his case with ease. I plan to submit this [information] to the Parliament.”

This protest was the first with a large number of farmers and it was staged with permission from the authorities. Last January, around 500 farmers staged a similar protest in Yangon.