Mar 12, 2008 (DVB), The Union Solidarity and Development Association in New Dagon township has been claiming credit for water provision in the area to coerce local ward residents into joining the USDA.

The USDA in ward 9 on the eastern side of New Dagon township has been collecting money from each household to connect underground water pipes to their houses, locals said.

But now USDA members are telling them they must join the USDA in return for having the water pipes installed.

The locals have been angered by this development, saying that the USDA's demands for credit for the work are unreasonable when it was the ward residents who had to pay for the pipes.

Reporting by Aye Nai