TANINTHAYI DIVISION – Locals and defence forces on ground reported that junta council troops destroyed a local orchard in Thonpari region, nine Shan Villages in Khamoukgyi, Kawthaung Township where there was a series of clashes between the People’s Defence Forces and junta army.
It is said that the junta soldiers and the Maran Village Police Chief cut down the rubber trees and the betel trees in the orchard and confiscated the orchard after claiming that the owner had not complied with the orders to clear bushes.
After a series of clashes between the military council troops and the People’s Defence Forces in Khamoukgyi in Kawthaung District since the 20th of this month, the junta council ordered through the village administrators on September 22nd, to clear the bushes in the orchards on both side of the road, which is about 18 miles from the area of nine Shan Villages to Khamoukgyi No. 4 bridge.
Most of these orchards are owned by local people who grow rubber and betel trees together. The resident also said that the junta council threatened that action will be taken against the farm owner and the farm will be confiscated if the bushes were not cleared.
It is reported that on the 23rd of this month, the chief of the Maran Village Police Station summoned the administration officer of Thonpari region and asked him to tell the owner of the orchard in the Thonpari region that the orchard was confiscated because the yard was not cleaned. The owner was not informed directly about the confiscation of his property.
“Mine explosions occurred near that garden. And the garden was not cleared, so it was confiscated under the accusation that the People’s Defence Forces might be there,” a local man said.
In Tanintharyi, where the military council troops are often attacked by mines, they usually give out orders to clear the bushes on the both side of the road. This is the first time that an orchard was confiscated because bushes in the yard have not been cleared.