Homeowners in Ann Twsp say they won’t demolish their homes despite eviction notice

By DMG 14 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
14 June 2022, Ann 

Eleven homes in the airport area of Ann Township have been ordered to be demolished, but they will not demolish their homes, according to the home owners. 

The township Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications on June 6 issued an eviction notice with a June 12 deadline. A new office will be built on the land plot, the MPT said. 

One of the home owners said the refusal to accept the demolition was not in defiance of the orders of the military council, but because of the rainy season and the fear that it would lead to homelessness. 

“The refusal to accept the demolition was not in defiance of the orders of the military council because we have no home or not been given alternative land or compensation,” the home owner added. 

“Homes on the land have been repeatedly ordered to be removed under the previous government, claiming they belong to the General Administration Department. But the home owners responded that they would demolish their homes only if they were given alternative land,” a resident said. 

“We had requested the local authorities to give us substitute land and ousted chief minister U Nyi Pu pledged that he would arrange alternative land for us. We will not be OK if our homes are demolished in the rainy season. Our children are attending school. How can we afford it if authorities demolish our homes?” the resident added. 

The people living on the land are odd-job workers who have been living on the land for sometimes as long as 16 years. 

“The whole town of Ann can be demolished if the government tells it to do so. People live in their own homes, but they feel insecure. Demolition of homes by the government is also a violation of human rights,” said Ko Myo Lwin, a resident of Ann. 

“This issue is to be addressed by the MPT in accordance with the law. We don’t know about it,” said U Shwe Aye, deputy administrator of Ann Township. 

About 300 homes and shops built in Ann’s airport area and former office space for the General Administration Department, a police station and a public hospital were demolished earlier this month, locals said.