Many vehicles, including lorries and trucks, on the western border have been requisitioned by the Burmese army to transport stone and gravel for construction of fences along the border with Bangladesh, said one car owner.

Vehicles Requisitioned for Border Fence

4/22/2009
Maungdaw: Many vehicles, including lorries and trucks, on the western border have been requisitioned by the Burmese army to transport stone and gravel for construction of fences along the border with Bangladesh, said one car owner.

“This is the new year holiday but the army personnel requisitioned our cars in order to carry stones from Buthidaung to many construction sites of fences along the border,” he said.

The army has started the vehicle requisition in the last few days without providing full compensation to the vehicle owners.

“We lost profits because the army took our cars. The army officials do not pay full compensation to us for use of our cars. Even though the army has to pay 10,000 kyat for our car, the army officials actually only give us 5,000 kyat. At the same time, we have to spend at least one or two days for the transport work,” the owner said.

According to a source from a local car association, the army requisitioned the cars for two construction sites, one in Ma Kyi Chaung Village and one in Nga Khu Ra Village.

“there are only three or four trucks of the government to transport for the fence construction, and this is insufficient for the work, so the army officials are requisitioning vehicles owned by local residents,” the source added.

Ten vehicles each from the towns of Buthidaung and Maungdaw are being commandeered everyday by the Burmese army for work on the border fence construction.