Food prices soar in Gwa due to junta blockade

By Admin 09 Oct 2024

DMG Newsroom
9 October 2024, Gwa

Food and medicine supplies are running low in Arakan State's Gwa Township amid a junta blockade, with the price of low-grade rice soaring to 13,000 kyats per pyi, according to residents.

The rice price initially increased from 3,000 kyats to 7,000 kyats per pyi after fighting broke out in Gwa Township in August.

Some people have been forced to eat rice porridge due to the increasingly unaffordable local price of the staple grain.

And, said one Gwa resident: "Even if you can afford to pay high prices, you may not be able to buy it."

Myanmar's military regime has restricted the flow of goods from Ayeyarwady Region since fighting broke out between its troops and the Arakkha Army (AA), resulting in food shortages.

Gwa residents are only allowed to carry two pyi of rice per head from Ayeyarwady Region.

As Gwa Town has relatively little land for farming, residents rely on Ayeyarwady Region for food and other commodities.

Residents are concerned about their health as well, as hospitals and clinics have ceased operations and medicines are also running short since the fighting began.

"Only one pharmacy was open in Gwa Town in September. It has since closed. We can't buy medicine even for an ordinary fever," said one Gwa resident.

Fighting has been raging around Kalarpyin Village, near Kyeintali Town in Gwa Township. The AA has seized some junta positions near Kalarpyin Bridge and along the Gantgaw mountain range.

Tens of thousands of Gwa residents have been forced to flee their homes due to the junta's indiscriminate air and artillery attacks.