Arakan State News Summary (May 15-21, 2021)

By DMG 22 May 2021

15 May 

• U Kyaw Tun Oo, a 66-year-old resident of Darlat Anauk (West) village in Ann Township, Arakan State, died of his injuries at a military hospital after he stepped on a landmine. 

16 May 

• A body was found on the banks of the Kasapandi River east of Kyauktaw, Arakan State. The deceased was 32-year-old Ko Maung Maung Than, a resident of Pyitawthar Ward in Kyauktaw.
• The Arakan State Administration Council said it would provide K5 million each to rebuild more than 200 houses in Lekka village, Mrauk-U Township, and Hparpyo village, Minbya Township. 

17 May 

• The Department of Archaeology and National Museum in Sittwe said it is conducting a survey in an effort to preserve structures that are more than a century old in Arakan State, from private buildings and monasteries to Christian churches, Hindu temples and mosques.
• A total of 171 teachers at basic education schools in Arakan State were temporarily suspended from their duties, said Arakan State Education Officer U Tin Thein.
• A total of 421 teachers at basic education schools will take promotion exams in Arakan State, according to the Arakan State Education Officer’s office.

 18 May 

• The 5^th anniversary of Mro National Day was commemorated in Banbwi village, Ponnagyun Township.
• U Ye Min Oo, an officer from the Disaster Management Department of the Arakan State Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, was fired, according to a May 18 order issued by Daw Phyu Phyu Win, director of the department.
• Former Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu appeared before the Sittwe Township Court via video conferencing, and he will reportedly be questioned by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
• The military cancelled a programme to test-fire modern weapons in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, on May 19 and 20.
• A 20-year-old man returning from Bangladesh tested positive for COVID-19 in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, according to the state’s Public Health Department, becoming the sixth case of its kind reported over recent days.

 19 May

• A spokesman for the Arakan Army (AA), Khaing Thukha, said that in a period of relative calm, there should be no panic in the wake of reports that the military would test weapons.
• The sustainability of some temples in the ancient Arakanese city of Mrauk-U is uncertain, said Daw Khin Than, chairperson of the Mrauk-U Cultural Heritage Conservation Association.
• The Arakan National Party (ANP) said it would not attend a meeting of the junta-reconstituted Union Election Commission (UEC) with registered political parties, which was scheduled to be held in Naypyidaw on May 21.

 20 May 

• A young Khami woman sheltering at the Gandhari camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, was raped.
• Ko Myo Lwin and Ko Maung Thein Nyunt, who were charged under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law on April 9, 2020, were fined K30,000 by the Kyaukphyu Township Court for protesting in favour of a ban on oil tankers entering and leaving Kyaukphyu during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A bridge built over a mangrove forest at Mya Padamyar Park near Ngapali Beach in Thandwe Township is reportedly attracting many visitors.
• Fourteen houses were destroyed and 69 people left homeless after a fire broke out in Kan Htaung Gyi village, Myebon Township, at about 3 a.m., according to the Kan Htaung Gyi Fire Services Department.
• The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) said it would not attend the second meeting of the Union Election Commission (UEC) with registered political parties.
• U Maung Bu Chay, 65, from Ranaungpyin village in northern Maungdaw Township was found dead in the jungle five days after he went missing.   

 21 May 

• A total of 59 political parties including the Mro National Party, Arakan Front Party (AFP), Khami National Development Party, Mro National Development Party, and Arakan National Forces Party attended a meeting with the junta-reconstituted Union Election Commission (UEC).
• A school is being built in the Tin Nyo camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mrauk-U Township for about 300 primary school children.
• Ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) MP U Ye Khaung Nyunt from Gwa Township was indicted by the Gwa Township Court on charges under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 30(a) of the Natural Disaster Management Law.
• The Center for Diversity and National Harmony (CDNH) said it will award scholarships to 100 underprivileged university students in Arakan State this year.
• A fire broke out in Pyaung Chaung village, Ann Township, destroying six houses.