Survey Clerk in North of Maungdaw Extorting Excessive Money from Rohingyas

March 31/ 2022

U Tun Chay, who has been appointed as a survey clerk by the Maungdaw Copper-Post and Land Registry Department in U Shin Ja village, north of Maungdaw, Rakhine State, is reportedly extorting money excessively from the Rohingyas for various reasons.

The survey clerk is now threatening the villagers to use Form -105 if their houses are to be renovated. Locals say they are being forced to extort more than 500,000 Kyat per house, citing the need to issue Form-105 to build a new house.

A local said, “We build our houses with hard-earned money, just to keep our family safe. To get permission to build a house, we need a letter of recommendation from the relevant village administrator, a letter from the fire department, and one more from the Immigration.

“Previously, it cost 100,000 Kyats to get Form-105. Our economic condition is bad now. While leading life with the support of NGOs, extortion by a clerk is extremely repressive for us.”

U Tun Chay is also demanding a lot of money from the villagers to change the name of the land tax bill. The former village administrator, U Siraz, and the current member of the village administration office, U Rofik have also involved in this crime.

A source close to the administration office staff said: “The survey clerk doesn’t carry out his responsibility but extorts money from the people. He visits the assigned village track only once or twice a year.

“Besides, he does not settle disputes over land boundaries. The villagers have to solve it. When he comes to the office, he only remains busy with extortion. ” 

Hence, the Locals have called on the authorities concerned to take effective action against the corrupt members of the village administration office soon.

Reported By: Maung Htay

Edited By: Md. Shuaib