YANGON- Farmers from Sittpin village in eastern part of Dagon Myothit Township, Yangon Region, staged a protest to regained their grabbed lands yesterday morning.

The protest was held at the construction site of a playground in eastern Dagon Myothit Township, Ward No.124.

“We didn’t agree to give our lands and were taken away by force. Rich men had sued hungry men for trespassing. Their act is cruel,” said one of the protesters that held the signboard on which part of President’s speech was written.

“We would like to request the President and the State Counsellor to return our seized, vacant and virgin lands. We will also accept fair compensation for our seized lands,” said farmer Naing Win Aung.

The farmers are now facing the food difficulties because their lands which they rely solely on were grabbed. Some farmers are now working at the factories as daily wage workers, says farmer Naing Win Aung.

The Housing Development Department grabbed 14.70 acres of farmlands situated in Ward No. 124 in eastern Dagon Myothit Township in 1991. Among them, 4.8 acres of project farmlands weren’t implemented and these were grabbed again by the Parks and Playground Department under the Yangon City Development Committee on January 30th of 2017. Now, the ward playground is being constructed in the seized farmland.