Military personnel from LIB (266) deployed in Vuangtu village in Than Tlang directed villagers from several villages in Than Tlang to reconstruct a road that link Hriphi Tlangrua village on April 17, said a local on condition of anonymity.

Villages engaged in the road construction are Zeiphai (A), Vuangtu, Belhar, Tluangram (A), Tluangram (B) and Zeiphai (B) village.

Among the six villages, Tluangram (A), Tluangram (B) and Belhar villagers were absent from road construction work because they were caught up with agricultural work on their farms.

A huge penalty was imposed on the absentees from the three villages. They managed to pay Kyat 6 lakhs (US $ 500) to the camp commander of Vuangtu Army camp. That apparently appeased the military officials.

The authorities found other villages to work on the road construction in place of the three reluctant villages. It is difficult to say how long the authorities will allow villagers to be free of forced labour.

"Now all the villagers are busy with agricultural work. But it would be too late to restart work on the farms if spend about a week in road construction work. So we begged the pardon of the authorities," a local told Khonumthung News.

Hriphi - Tlangrua road was earlier constructed by the villagers on the basis of a self-reliance system. Now, the authorities are planning to shorten the one mile (1.609 km) road to about 5,300 feet (1615.44 metres) running along the army camp.

The authorities assigned 1,000 feet (304.8 metres) to Zeiphai village, 1,000 feet (304.8 metres) to Vuangtu, 1,000 feet (304.8 metres) to Belhar, 800 feet (243.84 metres) to Tluangram (A), 800 feet (243.84 metres) to Tluangram (B) and 700 feet (213.36 metres) to Zeiphai (B).

The length of road to be reconstructed was assigned on the basis of the population of the villages. If the work is not finished in time, other villages will be called upon to take up the unfinished work.

In the remote areas of Chin state, the authorities engage villagers in forced labour during the farming season. Though cultivation is the lifeline of local people, the authorities ignore it. As a result, harvesting is not timely and rice production is lower every year. – KNG.