Villagers ordered to fund reconstruction of Headman’s home

Kon Hadae
June 2, 2010

Villers from Ye Phyu Township have been asked by the village headman to pay for the costs of rebuild his house which was destroyed by a Mon insurgent group, according to villagers.

A Htan Ja Nu villager, that received the order from the headman, explained to IMNA that the village residents were being made to pay depending on their income. Families who have the highest income have to give 20,000 kyat, families who have moderate income have to give 15,000 kyat, and families that are bring in the lowest income receive 10,000 kyat.

“I heard from the headman say, ‘it is good my house was gotten in [the] fire because I am going to get a new house,’” a Htan Ja Nu villager recalled. “He has nothing to worry about. But it is problem for villages who were asked [for] money for the headman’s new house.”

The headman old house, which was built of wood, will be rebuilt in brick but at a greater cost, another villager said. It is not clear if the house will be larger, with one floor or two. He added that there are about 400 households in Htan Ja Nu village, so that when the village headman finishes collecting the money, he will get nearly 8 million kyat.

“The new house began to be built over 3 weeks ago. It still being built,” an eye witness from the village said.

According to KaoWao Newsgroup, on April 30, the splinter group, the Mon National Defense Army (MNDA) and local Burmese government Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 282 engaged each other in the area in a 15 minute skirmish, and the house was set in fire. But a local source clarified to IMNA’s reporter that during fighting the MNDA bombed the headman’s house intentionally. The house caught on fire and 7 people in the house, including 2 daughters of the headman, were injured. The sourced said that the headman and his wife were not injured. The identities of the remaining victims could not be confirmed though the villager confirmed one was a retired SPDC officer.

According to a local villager, the headman’s house had been targeted in the attack due to his frequent cooperation with the Burmese military. The villager noted the headman frequently agreed to demand fees from villagers by the order of the local battalion, as well as implement forced militia trainings.

Following the attack on the headman’s house, villagers were banned by the local Burmese LIB from sleeping in their plantations, which are located in the surrounding jungle.

In combination with the housing repair tax, the ban on plantation work has hit Htan Ja Nu villagers hard. Villagers report having to walk 1 to 2 hours in just one direction to reach their plantations. This is particularly problematic for rubber plantation owners who can just work at night.

The ban on night work in plantations has placed even greater pressure on the families who fall within the lowest income bracket. Many are reported to have taken loans from other residents to pay for the cost demanded to repair the headman’s house.

“Our villagers were only allowed to bring rice with them for one day of work in their plantations,” a local plantation owner who mostly sleeps at his plantation in the jungle told to IMNA. “They[Burmese military] worry that we will sleep in our plantation and make contact with Mon splitter group (MNDA).”