People Forced To Pay For streetlights

People Forced To Pay For streetlights

People from a Shan town near the Chinese border are being forced to pay up-keep for streetlights to two different government agencies, reported Hawmaohurng on New Year's Day.

Citizens of Namkham, 129 miles north of Lashio, the Shan State's northern capital, were ordered by its Mayor U Thaw Htun San to pay K-200 per household monthly to the municipality beginning November 1999. This was in addition to payment to the township electricity supply board at the rate of K.100 per household per month.

" Besides, the order reminded the people that in the event that they refused to pay, the municipality would employ every means possible to get the money from them," said the source to Hawmaohurng. "We therefore have no choice but to comply with their wishes."

Namkham has 3,463 registered households.