Independent Mon News Agency
(IMNA)
A ‘Yatana gas pipeline’
guarded battalion LIB No. 273 demands fishes from local fishermen in Kanbauk area in
LIB No. 273 asks small fishes from the local fishermen
from Paungtaw and Daminseik
villages to make chicken foods and sell them to livestock business for their
battalion income. This demand of small
fishes from fishermen stopped for three years, but now the battalion starts
demanding again.
In 1999, when there was a conscription of forced labour happens in the area, after the villagers informed
about this abuses to company personnel and SPDC higher authority, both use of
forced labour and demanding fishes from the fishermen
were prohibited.
“Now, the army is asking again. We have to provide them with two baskets of
fishes, which cost about 1400 Kyat. We
have to provide them twice each month.
If we refused, they threatened us”, said by a fisherman from Paungdaw village.
The battalion has not only demanding fishes from local
fishermen, but they also take boats during their travels. These villagers were suffered much while the
regime and the multinational petroleum companies constructed the pipeline in
the area.
In most cases, the battalions which took security for
the pipeline forced the civilians to work in their battalions and in porter
service without pay. However, the
petroleum companies, Total and Unocal constantly refused there was no forced labour occur in the area.