VILLAGERS FORCED TO BUILD BRIDGE

VILLAGERS FORCED TO BUILD BRIDGE

On November 10, 1995, Company No.4 of SLORC Light Infantry Battalion No.525 stationed at Zalong village, Wan Hard circle, Lang Khur township (38 miles south of Lang Khur, 25 miles south of Wan Hard) forced people from Zalong and the surrounding small villages (about 200 houses with a population of 1,230) to build a wooden bridge on Nam Yome about 1 mile southeast of Zalong. The bridge was 12ft. wide and 35 ft. long, and had to be finished within 5 days. All the villagers together with women and children had to work on the site, leaving only elderly people to look after their houses, to be able to finish in time. 

Part of the road that leads from Wan Hard to Zalong had been completed more than a year ago. The part that goes southeast towards Salween River, at the mouth of the tributary Nam Teng rivers is roughly finished and almost reaches the Salween. Due to the heavy torrents during the last rainy season many trees have fallen, it has eroded in many places and bridges have been destroyed. People in the areas of Wan Hard, Lang Khur, Mawk Mai will certainly be forced to repair the damage at their own expense. The bridge near Zalong was one of the parts damaged that the people of Zalong were forced to repair (including women and children.)