By Kantarawaddy Times
Village-tract leaders from Demawso township sent a letter to the Kayah State government demanding that they fire the township’s general administration development (GAD) officer.
A village-tract headman, who doesn’t want to be named, told the Kantarawaddy Times that Nyan Hlaing, the GAD officer, is abusive, and they don’t want a leader who expects them to do what he says and then does exactly what he wants, he explained. “We want a leader who makes sacrifices and gives us guidance,” he said. Nyan Hlaing is very authoritarian and he “doesn’t fit in in our region.”
The headmen said Nyan Hlaing is rude and speaks very aggressively, and he won’t take any advice from the other leaders.
They sent the letter of complaint addressed to L Paung Sho, the chief minister of Kayah State, and the chair of Kayah State Parliament on May 18.
When Nyan Hlaingr moved to Demawso township he was fine, said Phoreh Ba Aye, a headman for the Dawkalawdu village-tract. Later he wouldn’t take responsibility for his mistakes. He’d blame them on the other leaders, Phoreh Ba Aye said. One time Nyan Hlaingr yelled at him after arriving a little late for a farmland dispute with Burma Army artillery battalion-360.
Nyan Hlain told the Kantarawaddy Times he hasn’t done anything wrong and worked hard on 400 projects since taking the GAD position in 2018. “Someone is inciting these village headmen,” he explained but wouldn’t elaborate further.
“We don’t want this GAD officer,” said Ko Dedee, from the Karenni State Youth Union. All the GAD officers the government sends to the township are from another area and “they don’t know what’s really going on.” He said, “they only pay attention to getting promoted and not developing our region.”
The Karenni State Youth Union, Karenni State Farmer’s Union, Kayah Earthrights Action Network, Karenni MATA and Progressive Karenni People’s Force released a statement on May 19 supporting the headmen’s demand to terminate Nyan Hlain’s position as the GAD officer.
In Demawso Township, there are 26 village-tracts and 4 wards.