Break-ins a growing concern at Sittwe market

By Admin 11 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
11 May 2023, Sittwe

Increased break-ins at the central market in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have become a cause for concern, according to shop owners whose stalls were burgled.

Around 2 million kyats worth of dried fish were stolen in a break-in on May 7, said shop owner Ma Htay Htay.

“My shop was securely locked. However, [thieves] still broke in. My shop has been burgled twice [this year]. And I lost around 2 million kyats worth of goods in the latest break-in,” she said.

Around 10 shops including cooking oil shops have been burgled since January.

Ma Thwel Thwel Aung, whose dried fish shop was robbed in March, said: “When I came to the shop in the morning, I found the door was open. Around 30 viss of [dried] ray were stolen. It was worth more than 700,000 kyats. It is a huge loss for us because we are a small shop.”

The fence that surrounds the central market is crumbling, and shopkeepers have asked the township development committee twice since April to systematically repair the fence, but there has as yet been no response.

Another dried fish shop owner, U Maung Me, said: “There have been one or two break-ins every week. I cannot sleep well at night because I am worried that my shop might be burgled. These days, I wake up early to check my shop in the morning.”

Break-ins have continued despite the fact that the township development committee has assigned night watchmen to the market.

DMG reached out to executive officer Daw Khin Khin Soe of the Sittwe Township Development Committee, but those phone calls went unanswered.

Apart from break-ins, Sittwe residents have also reported a rise in other crimes including mugging, murders and sexual assaults.