Authorities concerned have already made arrangements to compensate 36 owners of farm garden as early as possible whose land have been located in the Dawei Deep Sea Port Project and Special Economic Zone areas in Dawei District of Taninthayi Region. A total of 36 persons are included in the first batch of owners to be compensated for their farm lands on whose farms the project structures are recently constructed. They will be compensated on 10 January 2012, according to local residents.
An owner of a farm garden in Htain Gyi Village said, “A responsible person told at a negotiation meeting in the village that the authorities of the project are planning to compensate for farm garden at the earliest. The responsible person who arrives lately to the village is not from the assisting team of Chairman U Tin Maung Swe. The person is referred as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Rail Transportation. He told the villagers that the compensation would be made not on the acre of farm garden but on the basis of yields of the trees in the farm”.
The farmer continued, “The rate of compensation is calculated in negotiation with the locals and decided that K. 50,000 compensation for the first class cashew tree. K. 42,000 for the second class and K. 30,000 for the third class. The calculation is based on each tree. Moreover, one acre of land is fixed at K. 500, 000 for compensation. The rate for compensation for rubber tree is not decided yet. The farm owners are insisting K. 2.5 million for agricultural land as compensation. The authorities asked the owners to take less and the negotiation could not be finalized. Therefore, the earlier signed agreement for compensation on farm garden will have to be amended. If the compensation was based on each tree from the beginning, the reimbursement plan would have been completed now. The recent calculation is much better than the earlier plan, but there are some problems. The recent offer is based only on the calculation for each year yield. We wanted the compensation similar to the reimbursement given by the PTTE PI of Thailand for Kan Bauk area calculated on five years yields. Only then, we will have no difficulty to change our livelihoods elsewhere. What we were told now is that the Deputy Minister instructed to compensate the farm garden owners on 10 January 2012. After that the remaining compensation will be considered phase by phase”.
The owner continued, “My farm garden was involved in the area for road construction. I don’t know when the compensation will come. They told us that if someone wants the reward at the earliest, one must cooperate with the compensating team”.
A farm garden owner in Kan Bauk area whose farm garden was involved in the Zaw Tika Pipeline Construction said, “The compensation calculated at the Dawei Deep Sea Port area is not high compared to the Kan Bauk area where the PTTE PI have reimbursed. The land taken by PTTI PI is meant for office buildings and for pipeline construction, and therefore, the areas is small and the compensation is lesser in amount. However, the land area in the intended Deep Sea Port is large compared to the PTTI PI project area. Therefore, the land involved is much larger and amount is enormous. If it is calculated similar to Kan Bauk area, then it could be for one year basis only. It would make the villagers more difficulties. Therefore, the authorities should consider and negotiate for mutual benefits to both sides”.
Dawei Deep Sea Port area involved about 50,000 acres of land and the vast land is owned by the local farmers and the concerning ministries.
