Speaker issues warning on land disputes
Thura Shwe Mann, speaker of the Union Parliament, said if the current government and parliament fail to address the much-criticised farmland issues during the remaining presidential and parliamentary tenure, they will certainly face widespread condemnatio
The warning was issued by the speaker during a mass meeting on farmers’ issues held in Sintgaing, Mandalay Region on December 24.
“The farmland disputes have been going on in the country for more than 50 years. Different places have different types of issue. If the farmland issues of today can’t be addressed, the people will criticise the government and parliament of turning a blind eye on them. As a result, the current government and parliament will have to take the blame for these farmland issues during the rest of their tenure,” Thura Shwe Mann said.
The number of addressing the land disputes is quite a few. The handling rate of dealing with them is too slow to finish during the first parliamentary term, the Farmlands Investigation Commission said in its report to the 11th Union parliament session.
“The land management central committee has already assigned duties to the respective committees at the different levels of village, quarter, township, district, region and state. The village and the quarter committees are the most responsible organisations and need to take appropriate action in a particular situation,” Thura Shwe Mann said.
“The members of parliament repeated said the confiscated farmlands have not been given back to the rightful owners. The region and state governments need to take effective measures against the land grabs,” Thura Shwe Mann said.
Some governmental departments took hold of the lands more than they required, seeking self-interests on the pretext of staff welfare by leasing unnecessary lands.
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