Locals say roofing sheets supplied by regime are unuseable

By Admin 03 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 June 2023, Sittwe

Some of the corrugated roofing sheets supplied by the regime for Panphechaung village-tract in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township are used and with holes, said village officials.

The regime supplied 50 new and used corrugated roofing sheets each for three villages — Panphechaung, Lanpikekwin and Meeyetpyin — in Panphechaung village-tract.

Meeyetpyin Village got five sacks of rice, 50 corrugated roofing sheets, 10 one-litre cooking oil bottles, six boxes of instant noodles, one roll of tarpaulin sheet and sanitary pads, according to the village administrator.

“Around 30 corrugated sheets are used ones with holes. But the holes have been filled in by them. Some 20 others are new ones, but they are very thin,” said administrator U Hsan Saw.

There are 186 houses in Meeyetpyin and supplies provided by the regime are not sufficient for them. Fifty roofing sheets were shared to five households, which were chosen by means of drawing lots, the administrator added.

“What can we say? We have to be satisfied with what we were given. Almost all the houses in our village were damaged, and only around six houses are intact. The roofing sheets we got were old and with holes,” said a community elder of Meepyetpyin.

There are over 140 houses in Lanpikekwin Village, and almost all the houses and a school there were destroyed or damaged. The village also received 50 corrugated roofing sheets, all of which are used ones and not good enough to use again, said residents.

A resident of Lanpikekwin Village said: “We got three sacks of rice and 50 roofing sheets for the entire village. All the roofing sheets are used ones that were newly painted. Paints have yet even dried up in some sheets. It is not OK to use them.”

DMG was unable to reach Panphechaung village-tract administrator U Aung Tin Shwe for comment.

Arakan State Administration Council spokesman U Hla Thein said the old roofing sheets are still usable, and that they were only used temporarily in temporary buildings.

“How can we know details? Each township has its own committee that is tasked with supervising relief operations and distributing relief supplies,” he said. “For example, our state government sends 20,000 sheets to Kyauktaw, and a few hundred of them might be used ones. The committee is led by a brigadier-general, and it is that committee that shares our relief supplies.”

The regime can’t afford to supply to compensate for all the damages facing local people, said U Hla Thein.

In townships that were badly hit by the cyclone, locals still need shelter and drinking water. Shelter is the urgent need for them as the monsoon rains are expected to set in imminently.