Shan Herald Agency for News

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UWSA offers to compensate for confiscated lands in Mong Pawk Posted: 24 Aug 2017 03:40 AM PDT The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has pledged to pay compensation to locals in Mong Pawk whose lands were confiscated during the construction of a development project in the eastern Shan State town. According to an UWSA official, the decision to financially recompense the villagers was taken at a meeting last week headed by Pawk Aik Pan, commander of UWSA Brigade 468. It was agreed that all previous owners of land, houses and rice fields that were seized would be compensated. The UWSA say they will pay 3,500 yuan ($US525) for each mu (Chinese measurement equivalent to 1.647 acres) of confiscated land. They have also offered to set up electricity and water facilities for the affected villagers. The new town development project in Mong Pawk required the clearance of about 3,000 acres of land, according to Ar Pong, a UWSA battalion commander in Mong Pawk, speaking to Shan Herald last month. Aik Nub, a UWSA official who attended last week's meeting, confirmed yesterday to Shan Herald that the compensation had been agreed, but could not say exactly when the payments would be made. The land and buildings of 32 households in an ethnic Lahu village named Jadawkhar were among those confiscated. "If we sold our land we would get 70,000-100,000 yuan per mu," said Nar Wee, a resident who was forced out. "But they will only pay us 3,000-3,500 yuan. Then we'll have to rebuild our homes by ourselves – but not in the new town. We will have to build near the forest or the mountain which is far from the town." The new town project was started in July by the UWSA, which is arguably the strongest ethnic armed group in Burma with a troop strength of up to 30,000. The UWSA has signed bilateral accords with the government; however it declined to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with President Thein Sein's administration in October 2015. By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)

Upper House moves to decriminalise some drug offences Posted: 23 Aug 2017 08:44 AM PDT The Upper House has approved a bill to amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law of 1993 that would effectively decriminalise drug use in Burma. According to the legislation as amended, drug users would no longer be punished with often-lengthy jail sentences and would be required to perform community service instead. The Ministry of Home Affairs has said it will tackle issues of narcotics use and addiction in accordance with whatever terms the amended law ultimately stipulates, should it see passage through both houses of Parliament. "It has been approved [by the Upper House] that offences under the law have been changed to community service. The amended law is the most suitable one, since MPs and experts have contributed to the comprehensiveness of it," said Major-General Aung Soe, the deputy minister for Home Affairs. "In the implementation of every law, there may be both strengths and weaknesses. We [the Ministry of Home Affairs] will undertake enforcement measures as stipulated by the law." The amended law would be applicable only to minor drug-related offences, should it ultimately be implemented. Under current law, users of illicit drugs can face three to five years in prison if they fail "to register at the place prescribed by the Ministry of Health or at a medical centre recognised by the government," or otherwise do not abide by prescribed medical treatment related to their rehabilitation. Regarding potential penalties for repeat offenders, Aung Soe of the Home Affairs Ministry said: "When the by-laws are drafted, there will be more consideration on that matter. There are still many things that need to be discussed further. The by-laws will be drafted after implementation." According to the amended law, offenders would be sentenced to a minimum 180 hours to a maximum 240 hours of community service, with those court-mandated duties — on an unpaid basis — possibly including gardening, cleaning, the repairing of roads and bridges, and/or working for a social services organisation. The Ministry of Home Affairs, the government's Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have been working together via consultations on reform to Burma's primary law on illicit narcotics, with their last meeting on the matter concluding in December of last year. Link story : goo.gl/n1e9qP

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