Kayin Starts Demolishing DKBA Houses in Myawady
Kayin Starts Demolishing DKBA Houses in Myawady
Myanmar Times, 25 Feb 2019
URL: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/kayin-starts-demolishing-dkba-houses-myawady.html
The Kayin State government has demolished 30 houses that were illegally built on forest land in the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army’s (DKBA) new town project in Myawady Township, a government official said.
U Kyaw Myo Thu, spokesperson of the Forest Department, said the houses were demolished on Friday because the owners of the structures did not dismantle them after receiving two weeks’ notice. The structures were built beginning last July.
The land problem started in “Shwe Mya Sandi Town” in early 2017 when the DKBA began building in the area, allegedly through the efforts of Major Saw Nyi Nyi, the group’s security chief.
But the state government never approved the project and warned Maj Saw Nyi Nyi not to pursue the plan, said U Saw Myint Oo, state Agriculture and Irrigation minister.
He added that the Kayin chief minister had warned in April 2017 that the houses would be torn down as they were illegal. He said that at the time there were 203 structures on the contested land, but now there were 5000 houses, so the state government asked the department to take action.
The land was originally owned by residents in the area who had no title deeds. When the DKBA started to implement its new town plan, they started selling the land to non-residents.
The DKBA is a splinter group of the Christian-led Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union, which signed a ceasefire with the government in 1994 in exchange for military and financial assistance provided that it supported government offensives against the KNU and its allies.
U Kyaw Myo Thu, spokesperson of the Forest Department, said the houses were demolished on Friday because the owners of the structures did not dismantle them after receiving two weeks’ notice. The structures were built beginning last July.
The land problem started in “Shwe Mya Sandi Town” in early 2017 when the DKBA began building in the area, allegedly through the efforts of Major Saw Nyi Nyi, the group’s security chief.
But the state government never approved the project and warned Maj Saw Nyi Nyi not to pursue the plan, said U Saw Myint Oo, state Agriculture and Irrigation minister.
He added that the Kayin chief minister had warned in April 2017 that the houses would be torn down as they were illegal. He said that at the time there were 203 structures on the contested land, but now there were 5000 houses, so the state government asked the department to take action.
The land was originally owned by residents in the area who had no title deeds. When the DKBA started to implement its new town plan, they started selling the land to non-residents.
The DKBA is a splinter group of the Christian-led Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union, which signed a ceasefire with the government in 1994 in exchange for military and financial assistance provided that it supported government offensives against the KNU and its allies.