Skyrocketing vegetable prices afflict Sittwe residents

26 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
26 May 2023, Sittwe
 
The arrival of fruits and vegetables to Sittwe in Arakan State has decreased, resulting in a shortage of vegetables, and prices have almost doubled from before, according to vendors and locals.
 
One viss of chili increased from K6,000 to over K10,000 in post-Cyclone Sittwe. Eggplants, cucumbers, coffee, green beans, etc. have also increased in price almost twice as much as usual.
 
“We are facing livelihood hardships as the price of vegetables has doubled. A bunch of water spinach costs K500. The prices of consumer goods such as cooking oil are going up,” said Daw Oo Khin Thein, a resident of Ywar Gyi Ward in Sittwe.
 
Many acres of perennial crops such as mango, betel nut, pomelo, jackfruit and banana trees and vegetables in Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, and Minbya Townships were destroyed by the devastating storm.
 
Vendors in Sittwe’s Myoma Market said that since the arrival of green goods from mainland Myanmar is low, they are buying and selling vegetables at higher prices than usual.
 
“We cannot buy vegetables easily because many acres of vegetable farms in Arakan State were destroyed by the storm. Vegetables became scarce and unaffordable,” said Daw Aye Hsan, a vegetable vendor in Sittwe.
 
A total of 1,156,796 people were affected by the cyclone and accompanying torrential flooding in Arakan State, with financial losses totalling nearly K4.7 billion, the junta’s Arakan State Administration Council said on Friday.
 
As the prices of goods rise in post-Cyclone Arakan State, it is more difficult for the people affected by the storm, and the residents want the relevant authorities to deal with it.
 
“All people are having a difficult time due to the storm. Many homes were destroyed by the cyclonic storm and the commodity prices are skyrocketing. I don’t know how to make a living and survive,” said Ma Ma Win Hla, a resident of Sittwe.
 
In his video address to Arakan State residents on May 16, two days after the state was hit by a devastating cyclone, AA chief Twan Mrat Naing warned “merchants trading basic foodstuffs and other goods not to exploit the people suffering from troubles by overcharging their goods.”