The protesting parents marched throughout Kyaikmayaw Town, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, holding signs and shouting slogans of, “No intrusion on the land of Dhamatha Village primary school”, “The government must take action against those who intruded”, and “school buildings must be rebuilt”.
The land designated for the Dhamatha Village primary school was sold by the former village chairman and the school committee as housing plots. Local Dhamatha residents have appealed to appropriate authorities, but so far no action has been taken to resolve this dispute.
“We already submitted [a] letter to the respective authorities to solve this matter but, so far, they have not taken any action yet. Because the authorities do not do anything, we cannot bear it anymore, and now come to protest,” said protester Ko Khin Zaw Oo.
Dhamatha Village’s primary school plot is 1.38 acres, and was sold by the former village administrator to the people currently residing on the school land.
According to Ko Min Aye Soe, a leader of the protesting parents, due to these intruding individuals, the school has been closed and students have been attending other schools, creating great difficulties for local students to attend school.
“Lots of students have to study at the high school. Since the students from this [area] have to go to study at the high school, the classrooms have been so crowded that it’s difficult for the school children to sit and learn in the class,” said Ko Min Aye Soe.
According to protest leaders, although the protest group submitted a request for permission for 800 protestors to participate in the protest, the authorities only allowed permission for 300 people to attend the protest.
“We do not know this matter. We only know about this today as they hold the protest,” said an official from the Kyaikmayaw Township Administration Office, who requested to remain anonymous.
By November 29th, the locals had already submitted to the Union Ministry-level authorities regarding the individuals intruding and living on the school land. According to leaders of yesterday’s protests, local parents had also staged a protest against the intrusion three years ago in front of the Moulmein District Court.
