Mar 19, 2008 (DVB), Villagers in Bago division's Shwe Kyin township have complained that government soldiers have taken carts, cattle and drivers from the villages to use for mobilising troops.

Government troops requisitioned around 50 carts from local villagers, along with cattle and drivers for their move from Kat Ne outpost near Than Sate village to Gaw Thazin outpost between Shwe Kyin and Kyauk Kyi townships.

A local villager said the soldiers took the carts on Sunday and still had not returned them.

"On 16 March in the early morning, the military requisitioned about 50 carts with drivers and cows from Than Sate village and some other villages on the west bank of the river," he said.

"They took them to move troops to a different outpost, and they said it was an emergency."

The journey between the two outposts usually takes about five hours, but the carts have still not been brought back.

The local said that villagers in the area have often been subjected to forced labour despite the government's claims that the practice has been stopped.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw