Road expansion plans in southern Rakhine State have wreaked havoc among local business owners who have been given one month to demolish any property that would infringe on the new pathway.
In its current iteration, the blueprint forecasts widening the Ngathaingchaung-Gwa and Gwa-Thandwe Road by 100 feet within the villages, and 150 outside the villages. Seven hotels and restaurants have been notified that they are situated directly in the way of the project, and will need to be torn down.
The local owners say that they have been asked to sign an agreement certifying that they have been duly notified.
But U Saw Than, owner of a potentially road-blocking hotel and restaurant, says the notification and demolition order is unfair. So far, only business owners in the Kantharyar Beach area have been told to relocate.
“There are also buildings in Gwa that are also standing on the way, but [the township authorities] only issued an order to demolish the buildings in Kantharyar instead of ordering the demolition of all buildings. I won’t accept this so I refused to sign the paper,” he said.
He claims to have been threatened with a lawsuit for refusing to sign the agreement.
U Saw Than said the demolition orders for obstructing buildings were issued without any prior consultation with the owners.
“A nine-member committee was formed on September 27 and they are only doing this in Kantharyar,” he said. “We suffer a lot. We requested the road [expansion] group to reconsider, but they told us that we need to demolish [the buildings].”
He said the six other property owners on Kantharyar Beach who have been given demolition orders have already signed the agreement out of fear, leaving him alone to battle the authorities.
U Aye Ko, a restaurant owner who said he signed the demolition notice, said the land his property on has been in the family for generations. He has not been promised any compensation.
“We signed the agreement ten or twelve days ago. We have to demolish the front side of [the buildings] that stand in the way within a month. Action will be taken against us if we don’t,” he said. “It was stated in the paper given to us. … I signed it because I was scared.”
U Myat Ko, owner of the Yay Hlaing Pyar Guest House and Restaurant, likewise said he agreed to the order out of fear.
“They told me to take down the front annex of the building and the guest house's roof,” he said. “This area is our ancestral land.”
U Tun Shwe, head of Gwa Township’s Road Administration Department, has been tasked with leading the road expansion project and assigned a nine-member committee to remove obstructing buildings.
He deferred questions to the Rakhine State government office.
“We are only following the instructions,” the Gwa Township Administrator told Narinjara News.
U Saw Than may soon be joined in his campaign – he says houses from 20 area villages may also have to be demolished to make way for the road; several are located only ten or twenty feet from the current road. He urged the authorities to negotiate with the local residents before it’s too late.
