Kaladan News

Dated: Tuesday August 26, 2003

What Happened to the Shrimp Culture?

Maungdaw, August 26: The shrimp farmers of Maungdaw Township in the western part of Burma are facing difficulties arising from constantly changing polices on shrimp farming, according to our correspondent.

A businessman of Maungdaw said that shrimp farming has brought millions of dollar into Burma since it was introduced in the 1990s.

The Nasaka(Border Security Force) ) together with Military Intelligence(MI ) and Township peace and Development Council (TPDC) had confiscated about 9,000 acres of shrimp culture lands out of 14,000 acres from Rohingya Muslims of Maungdaw Township in Arakan State this year, said one of the owners of shrimp culture to our source.

The rest 5,000 acres of shrimp culture lands are owned by the Rohingya Muslims and they have to pay Kyat 1,000 per acre as a tax to the Fish Culture Department of Maungdaw Township and Kyat 65,000 per acre to the Nasaka authority, he further said.

The said shrimp farmers have also been ordered by the TPDC Chairman to grow paddy after shrimp culture season is over and the non-compliance should be punished at least two-years jail, another shrimp farmer said.

Although the SPDC authorities have the knowledge of paddy plants in the salted lands that is eventually destroyed by salted water at high tide. But, they forcibly ordered the owners to cultivate the paddy in the salted shrimp culture lands, he further said.

In July 2003, fourteen shrimp farmers of Maungdaw Township had been jailed for two years for the cause of not growing paddy in the shrimp culture lands in the last year. Of them, some have bribed to concerned authorities to bar from arrest, another villager said to our source.

But, this year the SPDC authorities have already released an order that if anyone who does not comply the order, his shrimp culture lands will be confiscated by the government for the next year. This year, the TPDC authorities of Maungdaw Township seized five shrimp culture projects owned by Shweja villagers of Maungdaw Township, he further added. ##

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