According to the State Administrative Council (SAC), 27 billion Kyats has been earmarked for compensation payments to landowners and residents who will be impacted by an international airport and port project to be built in Mon State.
The land for the project is near Kaw Param Village, Block Nyong Wine Village, Mudon Township.
According to the Minister of Natural Resources, U Aung Kyi Thein, a member of the Mon State Government, the Mon State SAC Council calculated that 27 billion kyat will be needed to pay for land compensation payments.
“Currently, the cost of the airport project itself has not yet been allocated. The work is being carried out by the Union. We are dealing with the issue of land compensation. The state government is still at the stage of calculating the compensation necessary for the agricultural land and buildings that will be impacted within the project area,” he said.
He added that compensation costs for loss of cropland impacted by the project will amount to 27.12 billion. More than 4,000 acres of land has been designated for the proposed project. The airport area will account for more than 3,000 acres. The area needed for the main port has been calculated to account for 370 acres.
Although the lands has been designated for the project, residents are worried that they may not receive appropriate compensation.
Mon businessmen in Mawlamyine are also skeptical about the project. They note that there is no sign of any country showing interest to invest in the project.
Other large scale projects such as the new Hanthawaddy International Airport located near the Bago Region began in 2001, but has never been completed.
