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March 24, 2021, Myanmar: Leaked official documents reveal land lease payments to the office of the quartermaster general of the Myanmar army for the Y Complex development. According to a land lease document, leaked by Distributed Denial of Secrets, US$2.163 million is to be paid annually to the army. This money is largely provided by Japanese investors.
Investors include a Japanese state entity and two Japanese corporations: Daiwa House subsidiary Fujita and Tokyo Tatemono. The lease agreement is held by local company Yangon Technical and Trading (YTT), who has 20% equity in the project despite not needing to make cash contributions.
Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson says: “The Y Complex project is an embarrassment for Japan, providing income for the same office of the Myanmar army that buys bullets the junta is using to deliberately kill people. The people of Myanmar will remember the actions that the Japanese government and businesses chooses to take at this time. They can either continue to allow the Myanmar military to profit from their investment, and be complicit in crimes against humanity, or stand with the people of Myanmar who are resisting the brutal and illegitimate junta. Japan has yet to take action in response to the coup and now is an opportunity to demonstrate a commitment for human rights and justice.”
Company and Japanese government officials have claimed to Reuters, which has also reported on these documents, that they thought the land rent was going to the Myanmar government and not to the military. Japan’s land ministry “had judged the project was not dealing with the military “directly or indirectly”, Reuters reported, because Myanmar’s defence ministry is a government department.
But Justice For Myanmar believes these are not credible responses because it is explicitly recognised in the lease agreement between Y Complex and YTT that the ultimate lessor of the land is the “Office of Commander in Chief, Army, Office of Quartermaster General”. The lease agreement says that the land rental payments are made to the Ministry of Defence - which is controlled by the military.
Note to editors
See Justice For Myanmar’s web feature on Y Complex here: https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/land-lease-payments-tie-japanese-gov-and-investors-to-myanmars-military
See the Reuters report on Y Complex here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-japan-insight-idUSKBN2BG0FF
View the Myanmar Investments leak here: https://ddosecrets.com/wiki/Myanmar_Investments
Justice For Myanmar, a group of covert activists campaigning for justice and accountability for the people of Myanmar, is calling for an end to military business and for federal democracy and a sustainable peace.
ENDS
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Yadanar Maung
Email: media@justiceformyanmar.org
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