To award compensation for farmland owners from Kyauktaw Township whose land was commandeered for a Sittwe-Minbu railway section, the appropriate department has received over MMK602 million (USD 401,333), U Win Htut, manager of railway project in Arakan State, told the DMG.

Farmland from Sittwe, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships has been appropriated for the railway project that started in 2009 and land owners demanded remuneration for their land.

The department has been given a budget in 2018-2019 financial year to pay compensation for eleven village tracts in Kyauktaw Township and it will award the financial compensation by September, U Win Htut said.

 “We are now going through office procedures to be able to pay out the financial recompense in this budget year,” he said.

He added that the Farmland Management Committee will rate compensation for confiscated farmland.

Ko Kyaw Htwee, manager of the Legal Aid Network (Arakan State) said that compensation should be paid for farmland from other townships that had land appropriated for railway construction.

“We do thank the government for compensating the farmers. The remaining confiscated farmland should also be paid compensation,” he said.

Myanma Railway gave back confiscated farmland from some villages in Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw Townships in 2017.