Thousands homeless after demolition in Yangon



YANGON: -- Around 1,500 police demolished more than 500 households in Kon Ta La Paung village in Yangon’s Pyinmabin Industrial Zone on Tuesday morning, alleging that the inhabitants were squatters, The Irrawaddy reported.

The demolition left more than 2,000 people in Mingaladon Township homeless, local residents said.

Uniformed police and people wearing blue hard hats—who appeared to be civilians—destroyed houses, fences and farms with sticks, swords and bulldozers, while some residents reportedly dismantled their own homes to salvage materials.

The ownership of the land was not immediately clear, but local residents say they have been living there for at least 15 years. According to a Wednesday article in the Myanmar Times, Myanmar Economic Holdings Company Ltd claims to have a long-term lease on the area.

Locals told The Irrawaddy that on Jan 25 they met with members of the military, representatives from Myanmar Economic Holdings Company Ltd. and the township’s general administration department.

According to those who attended the meeting, Yangon Division Chief Minister Myint Swe instructed police to remove Kon Ta La Paung’s houses if the residents failed to move that day.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/148484


-- Thai PBS 2016-01-28

Yangon Division Chief Minister Myint Swe... I hope you are proud of your work and you will always have a good sleep in your private house.

Little has changed in Burma. Hopefully Ang Sang can wrestle some power away from the military and the powers that be there. Than Shwe still runs the show, as of now. His top guys have been earning billions from this kind of development, illegal land sales, heroin distribution and manufacturing, gem smuggling, illegal logging, mining concessions at discounted prices to the Chinese consortiums, etc. The level of institutional corruption in Burma is mind boggling. This so called democracy movement has not resulted in much change for the poor people of Burma.