Strict junta checks on cargo trucks cause financial losses for merchants in Arakan State

By DMG 23 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
23 October 2022, Sittwe

Merchants have complained that the Myanmar military regime’s strict and time-consuming inspections of cargo trucks along the Yangon-Sittwe road are causing them financial losses as perishables like vegetables and fisheries products are spoiling amid transport delays.

The regime has imposed tightened checks on cargo trucks since September. As the quality of fish, prawn and other fisheries products bound for Yangon decline due to lengthy delays along the road, they are not fetching good prices when shipped to the commercial capital, a trader told DMG on condition of anonymity.

“Delays along the road due to tight checks at security checkpoints negatively affect the quality of fisheries products … As a result, we are offered lower prices for our products,” he said.

Junta personnel are carrying out inspections of cargo trucks and passenger buses at checkpoints in Kyauktaw, at Minbya’s Yar Maung Bridge and near Ann town.

“There have been more checkpoints. Those checkpoints close at 6 p.m. So, we have to stop overnight,” said a cargo truck driver. “They uncover tarpaulin sheets [used to cover truck cargo], and check if we have an approval letter from the Arakan State security and border affairs minister [to bring goods into Arakan State]. There are delays as checkpoints close at 6 o’clock, and they carry out thorough checks.”

A fisheries businessman from Sittwe said the business will suffer if the military continues to impose tight checks on trucks.

“The process of transporting fisheries products from here to Yangon for export is delayed by checks. And factories in Yangon do not want to pay the quoted price when our products do not meet the quality for export. So, we suffer a lot,” he said.

Similarly, vegetables and fruits shipped from Yangon are also rotting en route as cargo trucks are being subjected to those same inspections on their way to Arakan State, said vegetable treader Ko Hsan Lwin from Sittwe.

“We dare not place orders because of tight checks along the road. Because when the goods arrive here, they are already rotten. Previously, it only took one night to transport goods between Yangon and Sittwe. But now, it usually takes five days. All we can do with rotten vegetables is throw them away,” he said.

The regime is also imposing stricter checks on travellers using both roads and in waterways amid the escalating tensions between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army.