Villagers in Kyauk Taw Township, northern Arakan State, were forced to attend the Castor Oil Plantation training by the military authority from June 9, 2006.

The Burmese junta is setting up a project of mass plantation of castor oil plants in Arakan State, as part of this project, it is forcing the local people to plant castor oil trees says a villager.

As part of this castor oil project in Arakan State, trainings on how to plant castor oil trees have been given to the villagers by the local command areas of the military. At the Military Operation Management Command ( MOC), Sakhaka 9 in Daung Taung Roe, Kyauk Taw Township, five persons from surrounding villages have been ordered by the SakhaKa 9 authority to attend the plantation training with their own cost for 30 days.

The attending villagers have to pay 10,000 kyats each for the training and living costs. Many of the villagers engaged in the rice cultivation, but since the Arakan State authority wants to see plantation of castor oil plants, they are also being forced to attend the training neglecting their own livelihood of rice cultivation at the start of rainy season.

One of the farmers in the area comments that if they cannot cultivate their own livelihood, they are likely to face a hard time ahead, but the military authority does not seem to care much about their already difficult lives. #

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