Loans to Arakanese farmers get snagged

29 Jun 2019

Kyaw Thu Htay and Soe Aung | DMG

28 June, Sittwe

Since ward and village administrators in Kyauktaw Township have announced their resignations Arakanese farmers face problems taking out farming loans.

The Myanmar Agriculture and Rural Development Bank cannot disburse funds if farmers don’t furnish documents with the signature of the appropriate ward/village administrator, said U Aung Kyaw Mya, a farmer from Pyaung Sake village.

“We need the signature of our village administrator to get a bank loan. Now, we do not have an administrator and we cannot take out loans. If we do not have the necessary finances, we will have big troubles doing cultivation work,” he said.

To apply for a bank loan, farmers have to provide their farmland ownership document. This can show the land Survey Department if a farmer really owns the farmland. So, a farmer has to go through a lengthy process to take out a bank loan.

Even though farmers meet all the requirements, they could not get the loan because they need a signature from their own village administrator, said U Phyo Wai, a farmer from Dote Kan village.

“If farmers are not given a bank loan in spite of providing all documents and village administrators cannot sign necessary papers, we could infer that this was an intentional action against farmers and there may be a political agenda behind this snafu,” he said. 

Since the Tatmadaw arrested village administrators for questioning following the clashes between the Tatmadaw and the AA, almost all ward and village administrators in Kyauktaw Township resigned since 7 June because they believed their safety was in jeopardy.