ILLEGAL FUND RAISING FOR BURMA ARMY

(Independent Mon News Agency: October 27, 2003)

Military officials of Artillery Regiment No (318) ordered village headmen to sell theatre tickets in the community this week, a source from the village said.

A new Artillery Regiment was built this year at Abit village which rose the funding to supply uniforms for the troops. The senior officials ordered headmen to hire a local drama group to perform a show in the village and quota of ticket selling was imposed to each local headman in the surrounding area.

Each village is order to raise at least Kyat 150,000.00 for military fund slush. The army is ordered by the Headquarters in Moulmein to cover its own budget for further operation in the areas, a reliable source said.

"We don't know how much we can sell the tickets for but the Commander already has taken Kyat 150,000.00 from us", complained a local headman who asked to not be named for security reasons.

According to a village headman, the tickets do not mention when is the show and local villagers are not interested in it.

The BA plans to raise its military budget in the community through illegal ticket sales for social events.

The local military commander for such affairs orders local headmen frequently to raise money. Villagers never complain or disagree otherwise they may be beaten or tortured.

A similar show was imposed on Kaloh Thog village on 24 October. Regiment Commander Kyaw Swe Myint abused and beat three villagers for no reason, the source from the village said.

Abit village, south of Mudon town, is a strategic location for the BA to block all military access of anti-government armed forces in Mon State and southern Burma.