Local Burmese military authorities have directed villagers near the Kanbauk-Myainekalay gas pipeline to take responsibility for its security. The villagers have to pay the costs of sentry duty and pay for repairs in case of an explosion or a leak.
Though the regime benefits from the gas, villagers in Mudon, Thanpyuzayart, and Ye townships have to pay a monthly fee for sentry duty and to clean the bushes along the pipeline which is about 200 kilometres long. During the rainy season, the villagers have to heap soil where the pipeline has surfaced after erosion.
Local army battalions around the pipeline, which was laid in 2000, have avoided taking responsibility of its security and are known to force villagers to get food and money for them.
Villagers in southern Mudon Township now have to guard the pipeline near their village regularly and pay for the security on a monthly basis.
Moreover they have to pay for repair costs if the gas pipeline explodes.
"We have been paying for a long time including costs to heap soil again and again on the pipeline," said a Yaungdoung villager in Mudon Township.
The local army battalion has said villagers have to take the responsibility if an explosion occurs near their village.
The villager said "The authorities collect about 2,500 Kyat per house depending on the number of households in the village. Some villages pay twice a month." The Kwan-hlar village paid after the gas pipeline exploded twice in 2006.
The army officers ordered them to ensure that there were no explosions again in their villages and told them to guard the pipeline carefully. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… For further information please contact to imna_news@yahoo.com , www.monnews-imna.com Contact Editor:
66 (0) 81 3659140
(or) 66 (0) 892 072 825, Please visit Burma News International Web-site: www.bnionline.net, in which IMNA is a member.
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