Clogged Sittwe creek needs cleanup ahead of rainy season: residents

By DMG 19 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
19 February 2022, Sittwe 

Myolae Creek in Sittwe is full of rubbish and silt, with residents of the Arakan State capital calling for the waterway to be dredged and cleared of the detritus.  

Daw Khin Than Wai, a resident of Mizang ward in Sittwe, told DMG that people living near the creek, which is also known as Kalar Chaung, were breathing in noxious odours from the rubbish piled up along its banks and the surrounding environs. 

“Poor streams can cause bad breathing and damage to human health. There is a bad smell in the food and drinks, so living conditions are not good. As a result, it is very difficult for the people living in the area. Therefore, it is necessary to clean up the garbage as much as possible,” she added. 

“People from almost every neighbourhood throw garbage here,” a woman from Sittwe’s Yupa Mrauk ward told DMG. “People dump rubbish nearby. Some trash pickers also find and open garbage bags. The municipality comes and collects as much garbage as possible. But I cannot stand the bad smell.” 

Myolae Creek has been littered with rubbish for years, with officials carrying out a dredging campaign in May 2021.   

“An effective team should be formed to keep Myolae Creek clean and tidy. The people of Sittwe should be included in the team. These people have to go to the field immediately and have to accurately measure where the garbage is and where to bury it,” said U Maung Thar Sein, a Sittwe elder. 

The Myolae Creek winds through several neighbourhoods in the centre of Sittwe. Downtown areas are often flooded during the monsoon season due to poor drainage caused, in part, by the increasingly clogged creek. 

U Than Tun, a member of the Arakan State Administration Council and Arakan State’s minister for Natural Resources, told DMG that the creek would be dredged before the upcoming rainy season. 

“There are plans to pick up rubbish and dig ditches where needed in the city centre before the rainy season arrives. What is needed is for teams such as the municipality to look at the floodplain and rate the excavation,” he added.