Fuel distributors in Lawngtali demand ban on fuel sale to Myanmar be lifted

By Admin 31 Jul 2024

DMG Newsroom
31 July 2024, Sittwe

Filling station operators in Lawngtlai District in India’s Mizoram have demanded that they be allowed to sell fuel to Myanmar.

Owners of Mizofed, Mavula, Lyno, F. Rothuama, BZ, and B. Sangchem filling stations released a joint statement on July 24, saying that the ban on fuel sales to Myanmar is unfair and discriminatory.

The statement says the filling stations cannot meet the monthly sales target set by the oil marketing companies due to the ban.

An Arakan State merchant in India said: “Fuel business owners might have suffered as they can’t sell. So, they have issued the statement. Myanmar also needs fuel, and if fuel is allowed to be sold, it is a win-win situation for both sides,” he said.

The Lawngtali District Court on July 16 decided to ban the sale of fuel to Myanmar.

As fuel distributors in Lawngtali cannot sell to Myanmar, they have reportedly stopped ordering fuel from suppliers in mainland India.

The Central Young Lai Association blockaded the overland route used to transport commodities to Arakan State from Lawngtali through Chin State’s Paletwa Township on June 24. It partially lifted the ban on July 19, allowing export of food and other commodities except for fuel, pharmaceuticals and fertilisers.

Fuel prices have surged in Arakan State as a result, said a fuel retailer in Kyauktaw.

“We have been only selling the remaining stocks. So, prices are going up,” he said.

CYLA members destroyed around 100 fuel barrels of Arakan State merchants trapped in India.

The regime has blockaded roads and waterways since renewed fighting broke out in November.