Mar 3, 2008 (DVB), Residents of Irrawaddy division’s Nyaung Don township were worried after authorities made a list of people who disagreed with the national referendum during recent opinion polls, locals said.

A Nyaung Don resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that residents of the wards and villages in the township were summoned to their local administration offices on 24 February and asked to give their opinions on the upcoming national referendum.

"They demanded that one person per household should attend the meeting at the local Peace and Development Council offices," said the resident.

"When we were all there at the office, the authorities told us that those who disagree with the national referendum should go home but those who support it could stay."

The resident said that a lot of people who began to leave the PDC office were followed by officials who made a list of their personal details.

"They took down the names, addresses and occupations of the people who left the office," he said.

A teashop owner in Nyaung Don said locals were worried and angry as they saw this as a way of threatening the people who are against the national referendum.

"We are seriously angry and irritated by this," the teashop owner said.

"It’s like they are telling us they are going to make trouble for us if we disagree with them."

Reported by Htet Yazar