The Burmese (Myanmar) Border Guard Police (BGP) is forcibly collecting woods from the local Rohingyas for a Buddhist Monastery being built in southern Maungdaw, according to the reliable sources.

Major Lin Lin Naing, The Commander of the BGP Camp 18, has promised the Buddhist Sanctuary Committee to donate 12 Tons of Woods to the monastery being built in the Rakhine (Magh) hamlet of ‘Inn Din (Aan Daang)’ village tract, southern Maungdaw. The monastery is being rebuilt for the abbot of the monastery committed an immoral act with a girl in the earlier monastery.

“The Abbot (Chief Monk) of the Monastery in Rakhine (Magh) hamlet of ‘Aan Daang’ village tract had a sexual affair with a local Rakhine girl last August. When the local Natala Rakhines (Rakhines a from Newly Established Model Village) came to know about that, they planned to relocate the monastery.

Soon, the time of the execution of their plan coincided with the election time here. Therefore, the Natala Rakhines approached USDP party and said they would vote for them if they (USDP) provided them money for the monastery to be built. Hence, the USDP gave them Kyat 30 Million for the monastery.

Later, in late November, the Natala Rakhines and the other Rakhines from another hamlet held a meeting and agreed to knock down the current monastery (where the abbot had a sexual affair with a girl) and build a new one at the same place.

The BGP commander, Major Lin Lin Naing, promised them to donate 12 tons of woods for the monastery to be built. So, he has started to force the local Rohingyas to provide him woods to fulfil the promise given. He has ordered in three Rohingya villages — Inn Din (Aan Daang), Thinbaw Kway (Kullon) and Kyauk Pandu (Shitaaf) — to provide him 24 tons of Woods by the end of December.

Other 12 tons might be for his personal use.

He has already received 4 tons but he returned some of them calling them bad quality woods. He’s makig the donations by immoral means by forcing and pressing some other innocent people,” said an elderly Rohingya in southern Maungdaw.

Being poor people making their daily ends meet by working on daily basis, the local Rohingya lumberjacks and loggers face hardships in their daily lives as they have been given ultimatum of gathering 24 tons of Quality Woods by the end of this December.